Department for Transport

Cycling

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Get Britain Cycling, published by the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group in 2013, if his Department will ensure that cycling infrastructure receives adequate funding in line with the recommendations in that report.

Jesse Norman: Cycling has many benefits, both for the individual and for society as a whole, and requires good cycling infrastructure. The Government’s first ever statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, published in April 2017, sets out the £1.2 billion of funding that is available to support cycling and walking over the period to 2021. Since its publication, the Government has announced further support for cycling and walking infrastructure, including around £77 million of schemes funded through the National Productivity Investment Fund, and the potential for significant investment through the new £1.7 billion Transforming Cities Fund. Many of the funding decisions are for local authorities, and the Department is helping them to produce Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans which will help make the case for investment in their own areas.

Large Goods Vehicles: Licensing

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many European Conference of Ministers of Transport multilateral road haulage permits are currently held by UK hauliers.

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many European Conference of Ministers of Transport multilateral road haulage permits are currently held by EU hauliers.

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of European Conference of Ministers of Transport multilateral road haulage permits that would be available to UK hauliers if the UK became a member of the (a) European Economic Area and (b) European Free Trade Area after the UK has  left the EU.

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of European Conference of Ministers of Transport multilateral road haulage permits available to UK hauliers under a comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU after the UK has left the EU.

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of European Conference of Ministers of Transport multilateral road haulage permits available to UK hauliers, if there is no deal with the EU after the UK has left the EU.

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many bi-lateral international road haulage permits are currently held by UK hauliers.

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of bi-lateral international road haulage permits that would be available to UK hauliers in the event that the UK became a member of (a) the European Economic Area and (b) the European Free Trade Area after the UK leaves the EU.

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of bi-lateral international road haulage permits that would be available to UK hauliers in the event of a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of bi-lateral international road haulage permits that would be available to UK hauliers in the event of no deal being reached with the EU.

Jesse Norman: The UK’s overall aim in the negotiations with the EU is to maintain and develop the existing liberalised access for commercial haulage. The current liberalised access arrangements for commercial hauliers bring in billions of pounds for both the UK and the EU. Agreeing a deal which maintains and develops these arrangements is in the interests of both parties and we are absolutely confident of doing so. The Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Bill is designed to ensure Government has in place the necessary framework and powers to deliver a permit scheme should it be required as part of an agreement with the EU. The permitting system operated by the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) is an international arrangement entirely separate to the EU and will not be part of our negotiations. The ECMT permits currently allocated to the UK are little used and we have no intention of relying on them after we leave the EU.At present, the UK currently receives ECMT permits covering up to 1,224 vehicles at any time. These are allocated to operators and can be switched between different vehicles within a fleet. In 2018 only 21 ECMT permits have been issued to UK hauliers. This is because direct haulage between the UK and non-EU/EFTA ECMT countries is relatively limited, and there are also separate bilateral arrangements between the UK and non-EU/EFTA ECMT countries that can be used. The ECMT has issued permits which allow the use of up to 44,370 vehicles for the other 42 countries within the ECMT at any time for 2018. The ECMT scheme covers all other EU countries, with the exception of Cyprus who are not members of the scheme. This number can vary depending on the type of vehicle used and whether countries have taken their full entitlement of ECMT permits. Of this total, 21,090 are currently issued to EU Member States, excluding the UK. Road haulage between the UK and EFTA States currently operates without permits under EU regulations and agreements. The access arrangements available for the UK operators for trade with the EFTA States after the UK has left the EU will be a matter for negotiation. The UK also has a number of bilateral haulage agreements with non-EU countries. The UK has issued around 1,400 permits to UK hauliers under these bilateral agreements since the start of 2017. While some of these arrangements require permits, several do not and any permitting requirement is subject to the nature of the arrangement reached.

Shipping: Training

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Statement of 2 February 2018, HCWS444 on support for maritime training, what estimate his Department has made of the annual increase in the number of (a) deck, (b) engine and (c) electro-technical officers being trained through the SMarT scheme in each of the next five years.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Under SMarT Plus we expect to see the annual cadet intake rise to 1200. No estimate has been made for the breakdown between deck, engine and electro-technical officers being trained through the SMarT scheme in each of the next five years.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: West Midlands

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how the £25.07 billion cost of Phase 2b of High Speed 2 will be apportioned between (a) the West Midlands and (b) Leeds.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Spending Review 2015 set a long term funding envelope of £28.55bn for Phase Two, of which £25.07bn is currently allocated to Phase 2b. HS2 Ltd is expected to manage all elements of the Phase 2b scope from within the overall funding provision. As such, there are no separately designated budgets for different locations within the Phase 2b allocation. The scope of Phase 2b is set out in the Phase 2b Route Decision Document, which was presented to Parliament in July 2017.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: West Midlands

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how the £25.07 billion cost of Phase 2b of High Speed 2 will be apportioned between (a) Crewe and (b) Manchester.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Spending Review 2015 set a long term funding envelope of £28.55bn for Phase Two, of which £25.07bn is currently allocated to Phase 2b. HS2 Ltd is expected to manage all elements of the Phase 2b scope from within the overall funding provision. As such, there are no separately designated budgets for different locations within the Phase 2b allocation. The scope of Phase 2b is set out in the Phase 2b Route Decision Document, which was presented to Parliament in July 2017.

Merchant Shipping: Training

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what training is provided to members of the merchant navy who are involved in assisting to retrieve passengers from migrant vessels.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), 1978 and the International Safety Management Code (ISM) require all merchant navy seafarers to be prepared for the recovery of anyone in the water, hyperthermia, drowning and applicable emergency drills.

Transport: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2018 to Question 123538, on Department for Transport: Procurement, what those contracts are; and what the value is of each such contract.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Contracts valued over £10,000 sourced by the Department are publically available via https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk.

Shipping: Training

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects to publish a maritime skills strategy.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Maritime UK People and Skills Working Group, of which DfT Officials are a key member of, are delivering recommendation 8 of the Maritime Growth Study which called for the promotional body to identify and prioritise the key skills issues facing the UK maritime sector and to develop a ‘skills strategy’ with focused objectives for addressing these concerns.

Cycling

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken in the last 12 months to encourage cycling.

Jesse Norman: In April 2017 the Government published the first ever statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS) for England. The CWIS details the Government’s plans for increasing cycling and walking, and identifies £1.2 billion of funding which may be invested until 2021. Since the publication of the Strategy, the Department has identified additional funding for cycling and walking schemes, including around £77 million of support for schemes via the National Productivity Investment Fund. The Government also announced a new £1.7 billion Transforming Cities Fund in the Autumn Budget which will allow a number of cities to support projects aimed at improving local connectivity, which could include by boosting cycling and walking. The Department has recently announced a further £4m of funding for the cycle rail programme to improve cycle storage facilities at railway stations, and has commenced a major programme of technical support to help 44 local authorities in England to develop their Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs). The Department also announced a Cycle Safety Review in September 2017, which will consider ways of making the roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians, and so help encourage confidence in cycling. Further details of the Review will be announced shortly.

Road Traffic Offences: Greater London

Paul Scully: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent correspondence he has had with the Mayor of London on penalty charges on TfL roads; and if he will place a copy of that correspondence in the Library.

Jesse Norman: Copies of the recent correspondence between the Secretary of State for Transport and the Mayor of London on the issue of penalty charges on Transport for London roads will be placed in the Library of the House.

Electric Vehicles: Bicycles

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to extend the scope of Office for Low Emission Vehicles grants to include e-bikes and e-cargo bikes.

Jesse Norman: OLEV grants are available to bridge the cost gap between electric vehicles and internal combustion engine equivalent road vehicles. We do not plan at this stage to extend grant funding to e-bikes and e-cargo bikes. The Government recognises the significant potential benefits associated with e-bikes, and its plans to boost all forms of cycling are set out in the statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, published in April 2017. The Department has supported various e-bike initiatives in recent years, and some e-bikes are eligible for support under the Government’s cycle to work scheme.

Electric Vehicles

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of offering financial incentives to encourage people to buy an electric car; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: Financial incentives help to offset the upfront price premium of an electric vehicle and are therefore important to encouraging motorists to make the switch, and have been made available by Government for the past seven years. We have a support package worth nearly £1.5 billion to encourage early market growth, including a variety of grant funding schemes such as the Plug-in Car Grant, which offers up to £4,500 off the cost of a new electric car. There are also grants to put the necessary charging infrastructure in place and positive incentives for electric vehicles in the UK tax framework. These incentives support our ambition to end the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040, helping to meet our long term climate and air quality goals as well as positioning the UK as a global leader in electric vehicle technology and use.

Network Rail: Housing

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of housing units for rent or sale built by Network Rail or its contractors since 2013.

Joseph Johnson: Network Rail has committed to releasing land for homes to support the government’s housing goal of building 1.5 million homes between 2015 and 2022. Network Rail itself has not built any housing units for rent or sale, and nor has its contractors. Network Rail releases surplus land to sell to developers. The current programme of sales is expected to enable developers to build around 12,000 homes for the period of 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2020. Having sold the land, Network Rail does not have control over nor tracks the number or type of houses built.

Network Rail: Housing

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of units for rent or sale for commercial use built by Network Rail or its contractors since 2013.

Joseph Johnson: Network Rail generates over £200m each year from stations and property assets, money which is reinvested back into the railway to create a better railway for Britain. Network Rail’s investment into railway-owned land and property assets improves experiences for passengers and also creates opportunities to work with third parties to provide new residential and commercial space, driving growth and regeneration in our towns and cities. Network Rail itself has not built any units for rent or sale for commercial use. Its contractors have built units for commercial use, but Network Rail does not hold information on the number of units built by its contractors across its estate.

Network Rail: Housing

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many housing units for rent or sale his Department estimates Network Rail or its contractors will have built by 2020.

Joseph Johnson: Network Rail itself does not build housing units for rent or sale, and nor does its contractors.

Network Rail: Housing

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of units for rent or sale for commercial use which will be built by Network Rail or its contractors by 2020.

Joseph Johnson: Network Rail does not hold estimates of the number of commercial and retail units to be built by 2020.

Department for Transport: Property

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of his Department's property portfolio in terms of financial value has been sold or leased for (a) housing for rent or sale and (b) commercial property since 2013.

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of his Department's property portfolio in terms of financial value is planned to be sold or leased for (a) housing for rent or sale and (b) commercial property by 2020.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Network Rail: Affordable Housing

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of housing units for rent or sale and designated as affordable housing which have been built by Network Rail or its contractors since 2013; and what the average cost of those units has been.

Joseph Johnson: Network Rail itself has not built any housing units for rent or sale, and nor has its contractors. In relation to land released by Network Rail to sell to developers; having sold the land, Network Rail does not have control over the ratio of affordable housing built.

Network Rail: Affordable Housing

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of housing units for rent or sale and designated as affordable housing which are planned to be built by Network Rail or its contractors by 2020; and what information his Department holds on the average cost of those units.

Joseph Johnson: Network Rail itself does not build housing units for rent or sale, and nor does its contractors.

Taxis

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to take urgent steps in primary legislation to create a statutory definition of cross border hiring whereby a journey must begin or end in the licensing authority area for which the vehicle, driver and operator are licensed; and if he will support this by the introduction of statutory England-wide guidance setting out minimum licensing standards; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals for a definition of plying for hire.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2018 to Question 108783 on Taxis, on what date in the New Year the working group plans to report.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: At a Westminster Hall Debate last year, the Rt Hon John Hayes MP announced the formation of a Task and Finish group to consider any regulatory issues and remedies. The group’s remit includes considering issues such as those on national standards and whether to provide a statutory definition of plying for hire. The proposal to restrict the locations that taxis and private hire vehicles can carry passenger from or to will also be considered as part of its deliberation. The group has decided that more time was needed to fully consider the issues but will submit its report shortly.

Ports: Finance

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the amount of (a) public and (b) private funding was invested in (i) new and (ii) existing ports infrastructure was in each year since 2010.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the the adequacy of levels of (a) public and (b) private investment in UK ports infrastructure in each year since 2010.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: UK ports operate on a commercial basis generally without public sector financial support. As such, ports are responsible for identifying and funding their own investment requirements. UK ports have an impressive record of investment in new and existing facilities since 2010, including substantial investments at London Gateway, Liverpool, Felixstowe, Southampton and Dover amongst others. Financial support from the UK government and European Union was secured for a small number of investments.

Shipping: Employment

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on rates of (a) employment and (b) training for UK-based seafarers.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on annual rates of freight tonnage traffic handled at UK ports.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government has been undertaking rigorous and extensive analysis work to support our exit negotiations, as a responsible Government should, in order to inform our understanding of how EU exit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks. We have been engaging with businesses and industry bodies from all sectors of the economy, including ports and maritime; and with all regions of the UK as part of this process, and we will continue to do so as we move forward.

Shipping

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on the shipping industry of the UK (a) remaining and (b) becoming part of (i) the single market and (ii) a customs union with the European Union.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the ports sector in the UK of (a) remaining or (b) becoming part of (i) the single market or (ii) a customs union with the EU.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the maritime services sector of the UK (a) remaining or (b) becoming part of (i) the single market or (ii) a customs union with the EU.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government has been undertaking rigorous and extensive analysis work to support our exit negotiations, as a responsible Government should, in order to inform our understanding of how EU exit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks. We have been engaging with businesses and industry bodies from all sectors of the economy, including ports and maritime; and with all regions of the UK as part of this process, and we will continue to do so as we move forward. As the Prime Minister has made clear, on leaving the EU, the UK will also be leaving the Single Market and the Customs Union. The Future Partnership paper ‘Future Customs Arrangements’, published last year, put forward two proposed approaches for the UK’s future customs relationship with the EU. One is a highly streamlined customs arrangement, and the other is a new customs partnership. The precise form of any new agreement will be the subject of negotiation.

Road Traffic Control: Swindon

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to pilot the commencement of Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 in Swindon.

Jesse Norman: The Government has no plans to commence provisions in Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 relating to civil enforcement of moving traffic offences enforcement powers. Other provisions relating to civil parking enforcement have already been commenced.

Bridges: English Channel

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has asked the National Infrastructure Commission to assess the viability of building a bridge spanning the English Channel.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is the Government's policy to build a bridge across the English Channel.

Jesse Norman: The Government is developing an ambitious programme of investment in England’s strategic roads and improving international connectivity is one of its aims. The programme is being informed by a wide range of evidence including the work of six strategic studies, which are focused on making major improvements to the capacity and connectivity of the road network.Consideration of a bridge spanning the English Channel is not currently one of these studies, and to date the Department has not asked the National Infrastructure Commission to assess the viability of building such a bridge.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, hat estimate he has made of the cost to (a) Government and (b) local authorities of filling in potholes in England in 2017.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of filling in potholes in England in 2016.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of repairing all potholes on public roads.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an estimate of the cost of damage to cars caused by potholes in England each year.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport has made no formal estimate of the cost to (a) Government and (b) local authorities of filling in potholes in England in 2016 or 2017. The Department for Transport has no current plans to estimate the cost to the public purse of repairing all potholes on public roads, although others have made informal estimates of their own. The Government, for the first time, has set up a dedicated fund for potholes. This is providing local highway authorities in England, outside London, £296 million between 2016 and 2021, including an extra £46 million announced in the 2017 autumn Budget. This funding is in addition to just under £6 billion the Government is providing to local highway authorities for local highway maintenance in England, outside London. The management and maintenance of the local highway network falls under the responsibility of highway authorities, such as Lancashire County Council. The Department for Transport endorses the Code of Practice on Well-Managed Highway Infrastructure as published by the UK Roads Liaison Group. The Department for Transport has made no formal estimate of the total value of compensation for cars damaged on the local road network. Local highway authorities are responsible for maintaining local roads in their area and are therefore also responsible for compensation.

Buses: Tyres

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2017 to Question 117278 on buses: tyres, which organisations have been approached by his Department to commission the research referred to in that answer.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Buses: Tyres

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2017 to Question 117278 on buses:tyres, what progress his Department has made on commissioning the research referred to in that answer.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Buses: Tyres

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2017 to Question 117278 on buses: tyres, what estimate he has made of the cost of commissioning the research referred to in that answer.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Northern Rail: Standards

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, to list each of the franchise commitments to improve passenger services on Northern rail; and by what date those commitments are scheduled to be delivered.

Joseph Johnson: The full list of commitments can be found in the Franchise Agreement, which is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/northern-rail-2016-rail-franchise-agreement. Individual line improvements can be seen at http://maps.dft.gov.uk/northern/index.html. Some of the commitments or delivery dates may be subject to alteration but these are only varied once full authority has been given by the Rail North Partnership team responsible for management of the franchise as allowed for under the Franchise Agreement.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Energy: Prices

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for what reason his the draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill proposes a removal of appeal rights to the Competition and Markets Authority, and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: The draft Bill would place a new duty on Ofgem to implement a cap on standard variable and default tariffs, so it does not remove an existing right of appeal. Energy companies would be able to challenge Ofgem’s decision on the setting of the cap by way of judicial review, and the Government believes that a Court is capable of considering these matters.

Energy: Prices

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill, through what route will organisations (a) challenge and (b) appeal the level of a price cap in the event that the right to appeal to an independent body is removed, and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: The draft Bill would place a new duty on Ofgem to implement a cap on standard variable and default tariffs, and provides a bespoke power for Ofgem to implement the price cap through an amendment to the licence conditions. Energy companies would be able to appeal an Ofgem decision on whether to proceed with the licence modification by way of judicial review. It does not remove an existing right of appeal.

Energy: Prices

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons his Department's impact assessment for the draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill does not include quantitative data on the effect of a price cap on (a) investment in the energy sector and (b) customers, and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: As set out in the Impact Assessment for the draft Bill, the costs and benefits will depend on the detailed methodology the independent regulator Ofgem adopts to set the level of a tariff cap. The Government does not wish to pre-judge Ofgem’s work in establishing the methodology by including quantified analysis of the costs and benefits in the Impact Assessment.

Energy: Prices

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill, whether he plans to publish quantitative data on the effect of a price cap on (a) levels of investment in the energy sector and (b) costs to customers before a Bill is presented to Parliament, and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 20 February 2018



As set out in the Impact Assessment for the draft Bill, the costs and benefits will depend on the detailed methodology the independent regulator Ofgem adopts to set the level of a tariff cap. The Government does not wish to pre-judge Ofgem’s work in establishing the methodology by including quantified analysis of the costs and benefits in the Impact Assessment.

Energy: Prices

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy what assessment his Department has made of the effect of an energy price cap on the a (a) rise and (b) fall in wholesale energy prices.

Claire Perry: In designing the method for setting the level of the price cap we would expect that Ofgem would need to consider how to take account of relevant changes in wholesale energy prices, whilst maintaining incentives for switching and enabling effective competition.

Companies: Registration

Nigel Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many companies struck off the Register of Companies in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14, (iii) 2014-15, (iv) 2015-16 and (v) 2016-17 had their applications not proceed with as a result of objections received; how many of those objections were received from HM Revenue and Customs; and how many applications in each category resulted in a striking off within six months of an objection being made regardless of that objection.

Andrew Griffiths: The table below shows the number of companies struck off the register where their application for strike off was put on hold as a result of any objection; how many of those objections were received from HM Revenue and Customs and how many applications in each category resulted in a striking off within six months of an objection being made regardless of that objection.Voluntary DissolutionsAny ObjectionHMRC ObjectionFinancial YearLocationNumber of companies struck off that had any objection, meaning strike off was put on holdNumber of companies struck off that had any objection  during 6 months before strike offNumber of companies struck off that had an HMRC objection*, meaning strike off was put on holdNumber of companies struck off that had an HMRC objection* during 6 months before strike off2012-13England/Wales64142576540218332012-13Scotland4381923621272012-13Northern Ireland382317102013-14England/Wales1508627011401618712013-14Scotland10242589271852013-14Northern Ireland943682252014-15England/Wales116001601102705972014-15Scotland847127737432014-15Northern Ireland113199792015-16England/Wales7842241259046372015-16Scotland651200471222015-16Northern Ireland902869112016-17England/Wales101515767837438822016-17Scotland8494776462542016-17Northern Ireland1326212152* A very small number of objections in this category were received from the Home Office, whose objections are logged together with those from HMRC.

Work Experience

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of 7 February 2018, on the Taylor Review, Official Report, Column 1502, what steps his Department is planning to take to ensure that unpaid interns are not doing the job of a worker.

Andrew Griffiths: The law is clear that interns must be paid at least minimum wage rates if they are doing the job of a worker. HMRC will make unpaid interns a priority for their targeted, intelligence led enforcement of the National Minimum Wage. This will build upon the work conducted to target sectors and employers advertising unpaid internships online. Since November HMRC investigators have issued more than 550 warning letters to employers advertising for unpaid interns through job websites. Additionally, the Government will publish further guidance for employers to make it absolutely clear when they must pay minimum wage rates to interns.

Domestic Appliances: Safety

Mr Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the General Data Protection Regulation, what steps he is taking to support manufacturers to track appliances sold to customers to enable effective product corrective action.

Andrew Griffiths: Manufacturers and distributors are responsible for ensuring they have effective systems in place to prevent risks to consumers if a product that they have placed on the market is found to be unsafe.On 21st January I announced the creation of a new Office for Product Safety and Standards to co-ordinate rapid and effective action on national product safety issues. The new Office is supporting the British Standards Institution (BSI) to develop a code of practice on corrective action and recalls which aims to help business to prepare and deal with any product safety issue which may arise.The code will provide guidance on the use of data, including that it should be handled in accordance with data protection legislation, which would include the General Data Protection Regulation when it comes into force in May 2018. The code will be published shortly.

GKN: Melrose

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timetable is for his Department to make a decision any investigation into the proposed takeover of GKN Plc by Melrose Industries in the interests of National Security.

Andrew Griffiths: The procedure for interventions in mergers by Ministers on public interest grounds, including national security, is set out in the Enterprise Act 2002.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Correspondence

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to respond to the letter dated 20 December 2016 from Eamon O'Hearn.

Andrew Griffiths: Holding answer received on 22 February 2018



A letter was sent in response on 26 February 2018.

Business: Shropshire

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the value added to the UK economy by businesses based in Shropshire.

Andrew Griffiths: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) provides annual Gross value added (GVA) estimates which provide a measure of the contribution of an area to the UK economy. Figures, published by the ONS in December 2017, estimate the GVA for the Shropshire County Council area in 2016 was £6,236 million.

Consumers: Disability

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the consumer green paper will include additional costs incurred by disabled people.

Andrew Griffiths: We will issue a Consumer Green Paper in due course that will tackle areas where markets are not working for consumers.

UK Research and Innovation: Finance

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how the increased funding for UK Research and Innovation between 2015-16 and 2019-20 will be distributed to (a) the seven research councils, (b) Research England, and (c) Innovate UK.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Secretary of State will set allocations for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) each year, including the balance of funding between Research Councils, Research England, and Innovate UK, taking advice from UKRI on the balance between disciplines and on strategic priorities. Details of allocations to each council will be published in due course.

EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Government plans to (a) publish the principal options for a replacement to the Emissions Trading Scheme and (b) consult on those options.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 23 February 2018



The Government is considering all options for future participation in the EU Emissions Trading System, or otherwise, in consultation with stakeholders. As set out in the Clean Growth Strategy, we remain firmly committed to carbon pricing as an emissions reduction tool, whilst ensuring energy and trade intensive businesses are appropriately protected from any detrimental impacts on competitiveness.We are regularly engaging key stakeholder and industry groups to ensure we take advantage of their technical expertise and preferences and to share Government thinking as far as possible given negotiating sensitivities.

Disability Aids

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will call on the Competition and Markets Authority to assess the effect of competition on the specialised equipment market for disabled people.

Andrew Griffiths: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the independent non-ministerial department responsible for investigating market-wide competition issues in the UK. The CMA and its predecessors are experienced in the specialised equipment markets, having previously investigated unfair practices and anti-competitive agreements within the mobility aids sector. The CMA is responsible for identifying its own work programme, in line with its published prioritisation principles, and the Government is supportive of it continuing its focus on making markets work well for vulnerable consumers.

Maps: Technology

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions his Department has had with the UK Quantum Technology Hub for Sensors and Metrology at the University of Birmingham about preparing land and mapping data for future developments in quantum technology.

Mr Sam Gyimah: BEIS has had no recent discussions with the UK Quantum Technology Hub for Sensors and Metrology about this issue. BEIS is providing £270 million for the UK National Quantum Technology programme – including support for this and three other research hubs. Quantum technologies is one of the areas highlighted in the Industrial Strategy where we plan to launch a Ministerial-led review.

ICT: Public Sector

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with individual academics and academic bodies on the potential benefits of distributed ledger technology for public services.

Mr Sam Gyimah: In the report ‘Distributed Ledger Technology: beyond block chain’ (Jan 2016), Government Office for Science makes the case for how the technology has the potential to transform the delivery of public services. The report includes details of a range of academics consulted in its development.Following publication of the report, and working alongside the Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport, officials from BEIS, GO Science and from other Government departments have continued these wide ranging discussions. Officials have met with academics from a number of UK universities, including the Imperial College Centre for Cryptocurrency Research; the University College London Centre for Blockchain Technologies; the Department of Informatics at King's College London; and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Mineworkers' Pension Scheme

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the actuarial advice on which the surplus sharing arrangement in the Mineworker’s Pension Scheme was based.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 23 February 2018



No such advice was obtained. The arrangements were agreed between the Government, in its role as Guarantor, and the Scheme Trustees.

Rothamsted Research: Bayer

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on the (a) actual 2017 and (b) budgeted 2018 Rothamsted Research income and expenditure arising from and relating to Rothamsted's strategic framework agreement with Bayer.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Rothamsted Research is an independent organisation. We do not hold information on Rothamsted’s income and expenditure arising from and relating to their strategic framework agreement with Bayer.

Energy: Prices

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons Ofgem recently increased the level of the pre-payment metre price cap.

Claire Perry: The prepayment safeguard tariff (price cap) tariff was introduced by the Competition and markets Authority (CMA) following its investigation into the energy markets. The methodology set by the CMA, and administered by Ofgem, to calculate the cap is based on wholesale costs, network costs, policy costs, operating costs and costs specifically associated with prepayment meters. The recent change reflected changes in these underlying costs.

Manufacturing Industries

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on manufacturing in (a) the North East and (b) the UK of the UK leaving the EU.

Richard Harrington: The Government’s Industrial Strategy has set out a long term approach to boost the UK’s productivity growth and ensure that we’re building an economy fit for the future. The White Paper has set out a range of measures aimed at increasing investment from the private and public sector, which will both be vital in meeting the objective of increasing our productivity and earning power for people across the UK. This includes a commitment to increase total R&D investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027.The EU will remain a major trading partner for us. Throughout our negotiations, we are constantly attentive to the voice of business. They have asked for an implementation period and we are close to securing it.We remain committed to making the UK the best place in Europe to own and grow a manufacturing business by cutting business taxes, slashing red tape and investing in new scientific infrastructure on a record scale. Through our Industrial Strategy, we will make sure that we are using all the tools we have to stimulate growth in places such as the North East. That means using our record investments in infrastructure to unlock growth in every part of the country; using the major new investment in research to support innovative manufacturing businesses across the country; and encouraging inward investment into the parts of the country where we need to get growth going faster.The North East LEP Growth Deal supported by £379.6 million of funding is will with an estimated will provide 8,000 new jobs. The Growth Deal includes funding for the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP) providing a world-class environment for high-tech industries and advanced manufacturing businesses. Sunderland Council estimates that it will bring £300 million of private sector investment into the region, helping support and grow the manufacturing sector in the North East.

New Businesses: Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of business start-ups in (a) the Midlands and (b) Coventry.

Andrew Griffiths: Our Industrial Strategy aims to make Britain the best place to start and grow a business, and a global draw for the most innovative companies.The British Business Bank (BBB) programmes are supporting £4 billion of finance to over 65,000 smaller businesses (as at end Sept 2017), whilst the Start Up Loans programme had lent £392.1m to more than 53,000 entrepreneurs (at end of January 2018). We will also offer support for SMEs in future sectors to tackle barriers growth. This will include a further £900m in the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund for start-ups that are developing new propositions that respond to key global challengesThe Government also provides support to start-up businesses across England through GOV.UK and the Business Support Helpline. In addition we have funded the provision of tailored advice and support through the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub and across the Midlands via the establishment of a Growth Hubs in each Local Enterprise Partnership area.The Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub provides support to businesses in Coventry and includes a number of bespoke business support schemes for start-ups. The Government supported British Business Bank also has start-up loans available for small businesses in Coventry and the Midlands, including through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund.

Renewable Energy: Planning Permission

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what safeguards are in place to ensure that grants from his Department are not given to renewable energy projects which have been constructed or are being operated without the required planning permission.

Claire Perry: The Department’s main support schemes for renewable energy projects are based on providing revenue support based on generated output. The current main support schemes for renewable electricity projects are the Contracts for Difference and the Feed-in Tariff schemes. The Contracts for Difference scheme requires applicants to demonstrate that they hold the applicable planning consents when applying for support. In addition, it is a contractual obligation for generators to continue to hold the required planning consents for the duration of the support. Under the Feed-in Tariff scheme, the scheme’s administrator has powers to withdraw, suspend or alter an installation’s accreditation in certain scenarios, including when it has received notice from a relevant public authority that the construction or operation of the installation is in breach of any provision of legislation or of any licence or consent granted for the installation. Installations that are or were funded under the domestic RHI, Renewable Heat Premium Payment, and certain installations under the Feed-in Tariff schemes; are unlikely to require planning permission due to their scale. The Government intends that all new Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) applicants have all necessary planning permissions in place before they are supported by the scheme. The Government has recently laid regulations in parliament to introduce this requirement.

Productivity

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the what3words geocoding addressing system for improving productivity in the UK.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department is aware of a number of new addressing systems (such as what3words) and the huge economic opportunities offered by geospatial data in general. The Industrial Strategy sets out the Government’s commitment to putting the UK at the forefront of the data revolution. In support of this the Government announced in the Autumn Budget that it will establish a Geospatial Commission whose focus will be to unlock the economic opportunities of geospatial data to support the growth of the UK Digital Economy.

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 126951 on the Warm Home Discount Scheme, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Ofgem confidence code of practice for energy comparison websites on alerting consumers that they may lose their support from Government energy schemes.

Claire Perry: The energy regulator Ofgem, is responsible for ensuring accredited price comparison sites operate in accordance with the Confidence Code. Ofgem confidence code accredited comparison sites are required to alert consumers of the possibility that if they switch to certain suppliers, they could lose support from government energy support schemes such as the Warm Home Discount scheme.

Carers: Conditions of Employment

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what legislative plans his Department has to address the issue of late notice shift changes and cancellations to assist working people with caring responsibilities; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Griffiths: The issue of one-sided flexibility was considered as part of the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices. The Review considered a range of penalties designed to punish employers who schedule work at late notice, or offer work only to cancel it at the last minute. However, these tended to have wider implications and would be complex to administer and enforce, meaning those who required additional protection may not benefit from any changes. However, the Government remains committed to ensuring that flexibility does not benefit the employer, at the unreasonable expense of the worker, and that flexibility is genuinely a mutually beneficial arrangement. We continue to examine these issues in implementing the Government response to the Review of Modern Working Practices.

Conditions of Employment

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what legislative plans his Department has to ensure working people have a regular and fixed hours contract; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Griffiths: In the Government response to the Taylor Review we committed to providing a right to request a more predictable contract for all workers, including those on zero hours/ atypical contracts. This is not an overnight project and we need to consult on how this can be best achieved and we will bring forward any necessary legislation in due course after that.

Zero Hours Contracts

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what legislative plans his Department has to eliminate the use of zero hours contracts; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Griffiths: Zero hours contracts were considered as part of the Review of Modern Working Practices and we agree with the review in concluding that banning zero hours contracts altogether “would negatively impact more people than it would help”. The review, and Government, recognises that zero hours contracts have an important part to play in a modern, flexible labour market and benefit those who cannot or do not want to work in a regular contract. We have published our response to the review which commits to firm action and future legislation where appropriate. This includes a commitment to provide a right to request a more predictable contract for all workers, including those on zero hours contracts. We have also agreed to ask the Low Pay Commission to consider higher minimum wage rates for workers on zero hours contracts for non-guaranteed hours.

Conditions of Employment

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what legislative plans his Department has to simplify the definition of a worker in statute; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Griffiths: Employment status is an important and complex issue that is central to the employment rights and tax systems. We are committed to making it easier for individuals and businesses to determine whether someone is an employee, a worker, or self-employed. Changing legislation is one of the options that the Government is considering to achieve this. However, this is an important and complex issue, and so it’s right that the Government takes the time to consider and consult on this properly and to ensure that there are no unintended consequences.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Forced Marriage Unit: Finance

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much funding has been allocated to the Forced Marriage Unit in each year since 2011.

Harriett Baldwin: For financial year 2011/12, the Forced Marriage Unit – jointly run between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Home Office – was attributed a total of £543,036 for staffing and project funding. This amounted to £599,262 in 2012/13; £573,323 in 2013/14; £552,535 in 2014/15; £549,726 in 2015/16; £426,030 in 2016/17; and £447,078 by the end of this financial year. Over this period we have cut costs through efficiencies and by centralising the administrative function of the Forced Marriage Unit, but the numbers of caseworkers has not changed.

Cameroon: Politics and Government

Victoria Prentis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political and security situation in Cameroon; and what steps his Department is taking to help protect human rights in that country.

Harriett Baldwin: During my visit to Cameroon from 12 to 14 February, I held talks with The Prime Minister, and the Ministers of External Relations, Territorial Administration, and Defence. I discussed the threat posed by Boko Haram in the Lake Chad basin, as well as the ongoing tensions in Cameroon's Anglophone regions where the importance of respecting human rights was reinforced. I urged the Government of Cameroon to pursue an inclusive and purposeful dialogue to address Anglophone grievances, and also met a range of Anglophone leaders in Buea, to hear their concerns.

South Sudan: Humanitarian Aid

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to use his position on the UN Human Rights Council during the Council session on 13 March to speak about the human rights and humanitarian situation in South Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: The human rights situation in South Sudan continues to be of serious concern to the British Government. Human rights abuses, including the targeting of civilians on the basis of their ethnic identity; the pervasive use of rape; recruitment of child soldiers; forced displacement of civilian populations; and the use of food as a weapon of war, all continue to take place alongside a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation.At the Human Rights Council in March, the UK will make clear that all parties must make concerted efforts to bring these abuses immediately to an end. The solution to the severe human rights and humanitarian crises is political stability. We will therefore also urge all parties to the conflict to engage with the second phase of the High Level Revitalisation Forum with seriousness of purpose. The UK will continue to work with the United States and Norway and with The Intergovernmental Authority on Development to give the process the best chance of success.

Eritrea: Ethiopia

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the deployment of Egyptian troops to Eritrea on Eritrea-Ethiopia relations.

Harriett Baldwin: We have received no information which substantiates reports of Egyptian troops in Eritrea. Both the governments of Egypt and Eritrea have issued statements rejecting such reports.

Sudan: Deportation

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the danger to non-Arab Dafuris sent to Khartoum after having their asylum claims rejected in the UK.

Harriett Baldwin: All asylum and human rights claims from Sudanese nationals are carefully considered on their individual merits, and in accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention and European Convention on Human Rights. Those who have been found not to need protection are refused have a right of appeal to the independent courts.

Burma: Rohingya

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Rohingya refugees are repatriated to Myanmar with guarantees made to protect their (a) physical safety and (b) material and legal rights, under the supervision of UNHCR.

Mark Field: During the Foreign Secretary's visit to Burma on 10-11 February, he urged State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to work with the international community to create conditions in Rakhine which will allow Rohingya refugees to return safely, voluntarily and in dignity to their homes under the international oversight of the UNHCR.The UN Security Council, in response to a UK-led call, convened a session on 13 February to discuss the Rohingya crisis. Our intervention made clear that the UNHCR should have a formal role in any returns process. This role would include providing an independent assessment of conditions in Rakhine, including security, allowing Rohingya refugees to make informed decisions.

Asa Hutchinson

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the case of Asa Hutchinson has been discussed at meetings between Ministers of his Department and representatives from the United Arab Emirates Government; and whether any such future meetings are planned at which that case will be discussed.

Alistair Burt: We continue to provide consular assistance to Miss Hutchinson and are in contact with her family, lawyer and the local authorities in Dubai. Consular issues affecting British nationals in the United Arab Emirates form part of our bilateral talks.

United Arab Emirates: Foreign Relations

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which bilateral contacts have taken place between his Department and representatives from the United Arab Emirates Government in the last three months; and what further such contacts are planned.

Alistair Burt: The Government has a close relationship with the United Arab Emirates. The bilateral relationship is strengthened by regular contacts at all levels and we look forward to this continuing.A key element of our relationship is the bi-annual UK-UAE Taskforce which I co-chair with my Emirati counterpart. The next is due on 28 February in London.

Cyprus: Peace Negotiations

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of progress on the Cyprus peace talks; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: Since the 2017 Conference on Cyprus, the British Government has urged all parties to avoid words or actions that risk escalating tensions in the region or that could have a negative impact on the prospects for a Cyprus Settlement. We look forward to continuing to work with President Anastasiades following his re-election on 4 February, and with the Leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, Mr Akinci, in the search for an fair and sustainable settlement. It is now for the parties to decide the way forward. The Government will encourage them to work towards a resumption of talks in the coming months and stands ready to discuss how we can support progress. Reaching agreement on the remaining issues will require tough choices and compromises but with political will, we judge a settlement is within reach.

Northern Ireland Office

Irish Language: Northern Ireland

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the St Andrews Agreement of 2006, what her policy is on the introduction of an Irish Language Act.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Since May 2007, Northern Ireland’s devolved institutions have been responsible for the introduction of the Irish language Act. It is disappointing that the Northern Ireland parties have been unable to reach an agreement on how to proceed in this area. The UK Government will continue to do all it can to support delivery of an effective, stable, power-sharing devolved Government, so that decisions on issues such as the Irish language and other languages are taken by locally accountable politicians.

Department of Health and Social Care

Ophthalmic Services

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase funding for the national NHS ophthalmic services contract for adults and children with learning disabilities and for people who are homeless.

Steve Brine: There are no patient charges for those entitled to free National Health Service sight tests or cap on the budget from which NHS sight tests are funded. Many people with learning disabilities and those who are homeless will either meet the criteria for a free NHS sight test or qualify on income grounds for help with the costs of a private sight test.

Stem Cells: Research

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding for stem cell research was allocated by the National Institute for Health Research and Blood and Transplant Research Unit in each of the last three years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The National Institute for Health Research expenditure on stem cell research is estimated as follows: £4,867,111 in 2014/15, £6,901,271 in 2015/16, and £7,817,643 in 2016/17.

Prostate Cancer

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in the number of men dying as a result of prostrate cancer.

Steve Brine: Prostate cancer is a disease that mainly affects men over the age of 55 and the numbers of men diagnosed has increased due to the ageing population. Increased use of the prostate specific antigen blood test in primary care over the last two decades has also resulted in more men being referred to secondary care and an increase in diagnoses of prostate cancer. Cancer survival is now at an all-time high in England and five-year survival for prostate cancer is 88.3%, higher than for most other cancers. NHS England continues to support effective new treatments and diagnostics and implement the ambitious independent Cancer Taskforce strategy and is working closely with leading clinical experts and Prostate Cancer UK to bring the latest research on this disease into practice. Targeted work is also being undertaken to ensure prostate cancer is diagnosed quickly and that everyone receives the best care wherever they live across the country.

Patients: Community Transport

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of patient access to community transport for the purposes of attending hospital appointments in rural areas.

Steve Brine: No such assessment will be made. Community transport is a matter for the Department for Transport. The provision of patient transport services (PTS) in line with national guidance is a matter for local National Health Service commissioners. These services are provided on the basis of medical need, regardless of location. PTS eligibility criteria are outlined in the document Eligibility Criteria for Patient Transport Services. For patients who are not eligible on medical grounds for PTS, but have a low income and receive a qualifying benefit or allowance, refunds for the cost of travelling to hospitals for treatment may also be claimed under the ‘Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme’. Further details about this scheme can be found at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/nhsengland/healthcosts/pages/travelcosts.aspx

General Practitioners

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is the policy of NHS England to require a person to provide photographic ID to register with a GP.

Steve Brine: NHS England’s policy ‘Patient Registration, Standard Operating Principles for Primary Medical Care (General Practice)’ states that:“When applying to become a patient there is no regulatory requirement to prove identity, address, immigration status or the provision of an NHS number in order to register. However, there are practical reasons why a practice might need to be assured that people are who they say they are, or to check where they live, so it can help the process if a patient can provide relevant documents. There is however no contractual requirement to request this nor is establishing an individual’s identity the role of General Practice.Any practice policy to ask for patient ID should be applied in a non-discriminatory fashion. This means the policy should apply to all prospective patients equally.” As there is no requirement under the regulations to produce identity or residence information, the patient must be registered on application unless the practice has reasonable grounds to decline.

Tobacco

Craig Tracey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will implement the recommendations on regulatory levers for heated tobacco products set out in the Public Health England report on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, published on 6 February 2018.

Steve Brine: The basis of the regulatory regime in the United Kingdom in relation of tobacco products and e-cigarettes is the Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU). This includes relevant provisions on heat not burn. The UK will consider any future opportunities to amend the regulatory regime once the outcome of Brexit negotiations is clear. Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force.

Tobacco

Craig Tracey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support more independent research on heated tobacco products as recommended in the Public Health England report on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, published on 6 February 2018.

Steve Brine: The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health; it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. Information on individual projects funded by the NIHR can be found at: https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/ The Department will continue to work with Public Health England (PHE) to monitor the evidence base around heat not burn products. In the Tobacco Control Plan, published in July 2017, PHE committed to update their evidence report on e-cigarettes and other novel nicotine delivery systems annually until the end of the Parliament in 2022.

Obesity: Children and Young People

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase the awareness of the dangers of obesity to children and young people.

Steve Brine: The Government’s Childhood Obesity Plan launched in August 2016 will help children and families to recognise and make healthier choices and be more active. Key measures in the plan include the soft drinks industry levy, the sugar reduction and wider reformulation programme and helping children to enjoy an hour of physical activity every day. Public Health England's social marketing campaign, Change4Life aims to help families and children in England to eat well and move more. The campaign has enjoyed considerable success and high levels of engagement. Since its launch in 2009 more than four million people have signed up to Change4Life and it now has more than 200 national partners. Change4Life materials, digital apps and resources incentivise and encourage behaviour change through providing simple ideas, tips and swaps. Through this campaign the Government, the National Health Service, local authorities, businesses, charities, schools, families and community leaders can all play a part in improving children’s diets and activity levels. The Healthy Child Programme is the key universal public health service, delivered by health visitors, for improving the health and wellbeing of children. Its goals are to identify and treat problems early, help parents to care well for their children, change health behaviours and protect against preventable diseases. The programme is evidence-based and aims to prevent problems in child health and development and contribute to a reduction in health inequalities.

HIV Infection

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce HIV infection rates.

Steve Brine: England is on course to achieving the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets; 90% of people living with HIV infection are diagnosed, 90% of people diagnosed are receiving treatment, and 90% of people receiving treatment are virally. England is also one of the first countries to see a substantial decline in new HIV diagnoses among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men as well as a longer term decline in new HIV diagnoses among black African heterosexual men and women. These declines reflect considerable increases in HIV testing, earlier initiation of treatment following HIV diagnosis, high levels of condom use and increasing availability of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Activities commissioned to reduce transmission of HIV infection include: national HIV prevention campaigns for populations most at-risk of HIV; NHS England and Public Health England (PHE) have launched the world’s largest PrEP implementation trial; the PHE HIV Prevention Innovation Fund supports voluntary sector organisations offering innovative ways of addressing high risk behaviours; national HIV self-sampling service where individuals order kits on-line and return self-taken specimens by post for laboratory testing.

Soft Drinks: Children

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ban the sale of energy drinks to children under 16 years old on NHS premises.

Steve Brine: There are provisions within the National Health Service standard contract to ban the sale of sugary drinks on NHS premises from July 2018. Within the voluntary scheme, NHS trusts and soft drinks suppliers are committed to taking action to reduce the sales of sugary drinks, with a target of less than 10% of all sales. The NHS is currently monitoring sales information from the voluntary scheme and in April it will be able to analyse progress made from nine months of data. From this information NHS England will make a decision whether to enforce the ban or not, and what policy decisions to take as a result. Future action may include a focus specific to energy drinks sold to under-16s, but the current policy is taking action on sugary drinks as a whole.

Cancer

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 22 of Next Steps On The NHS Five Year Forward View, published in March 2017, what the evidential basis is for the statements that (a) an estimated 7000+ more people surviving cancer after successful NHS cancer treatment compared to three years prior and (b) within two years, more than 5000 extra people a year will survive cancer as compared to now.

Steve Brine: The survival projections are based on the one-year survival figures in the Office for National Statistics publication of the Clinical Commissioning Group Cancer Survival Index. One-year survival for all cancers was measured for patients diagnosed between 2010 and 2014 and followed up 2015. Further information can be found at the following link:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/indexofcancersurvivalforclinicalcommissioninggroupsinengland/adultsdiagnosed1999to2014andfollowedupto2015

Air Pollution: Health Hazards

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to indicator 3.01 of Improving outcomes and supporting transparency, updated in August 2016, what data does his Department holds on the level of mortality linked to air pollution.

Steve Brine: The Public Health Outcomes Framework for England reports on a range of indicators for local authorities, including an indicator for air pollution expressed as the fraction of adult mortality attributable to long-term exposure to human-made particulate air pollution (Indicator 3.01). In England, approximately 4.7% of all adult deaths in 2015 were attributable to long-term exposure to human-made particulate air pollution.

NHS Property and Estates Review

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will prevent the transfer of ownership of NHS estates until the proposals have been evaluated by the NHS Property Board as part of an STP Estate Strategy and as set out in 4.4 of the Government Response to the Naylor Review.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's response to the Naylor Review, published on 30 January 2018, what assessment he has made of whether requirements for business cases to be based on benefits across a whole Sustainability and Transformation Plan might prevent NHS Foundation Trusts from acting autonomously and pursuing independent proposals as is current practice.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what process will be followed by the NHS Property Board to evaluate capital investment projects in terms of benefits across an STP.

Stephen Barclay: The evaluation of capital investment proposals is undertaken jointly by the Department, NHS England and NHS Improvement. No proposal can progress until it has received formal approval, as set out in guidance issued by NHS Improvement available at:www.improvement.nhs.uk/resources/capital-regime-investment-and-property-business-case-approval-guidance-nhs-trusts-and-foundation-trusts/The Government response to the Naylor review is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/naylor-review-government-responseIt sets a clear expectation that local National Health Service leaders will collaborate to develop estates strategies that support the priorities set by sustainability and transformation partnerships (STP), and to develop robust capital business cases. Business cases are submitted by an individual NHS trust or NHS foundation trust as STPs are not legal entities. The business case approval process will provide assurance that proposals align with the STP’s clinical and estates strategy and will deliver the intended benefits.

NHS Property and Estates Review

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether stakeholders including the public, patients and NHS staff representatives will be consulted on the development of plans for capital expenditure, sale, or transfers of ownership of the NHS estate before the approval of any such plans.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will require all STPs to publish their Estates strategies.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that STPs will be required to provide evidence that they have consulted with the relevant partners and stakeholders before drawing up the STP Estate Strategy and any significant updates to such strategies.

Stephen Barclay: National Health Service organisations are under a legal duty to consult local people and communities on proposals to make substantial changes to the services that they provide to patients. The Government has mandated four tests of service reconfiguration, one of which is for strong public and patient engagement. This must be evidenced as part of the business case approval process. The Government’s response to the Naylor Review, published on 30 January 2018 is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/naylor-review-government-response It sets a clear expectation that local NHS leaders should collaborate on planning across a sustainability and transformation partnership (STP) footprint and the development of estates and capital strategies. STP proposals have been published for every part of England and take account of estates strategies. These are works in progress and will evolve further to reflect the outcomes of local consultation.

Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that strategic estates planning services to support STPs will be provided by NHS employed staff and not through external consultancy arrangements.

Stephen Barclay: In order to build greater capability within the National Health Service, we have established a single, integrated strategic estates planning team to support sustainability and transformation partnerships in delivering their transformation plans. The team will be a centre of expertise and primary source of support on strategic estates planning advice and report to the NHS Property Board. A permanent director for this team will be recruited shortly. NHS organisations may continue to seek other sources of advice, for example on specialist, legal or technical issues, where they feel such support is necessary.

NHS Foundation Trusts: Buildings

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what monitoring process will be put in place to assess whether NHS Foundation Trusts are maintaining their facilities effectively.

Stephen Barclay: Data is collected centrally on the estate used by all National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts through a variety of collections including the Estates Return Information Collection and Patient Led Assessment of the Care Environment. This data is used by NHS Regulators amongst others for many purposes including monitoring the safety, quality, effectiveness and efficiency of the NHS estate. To assist NHS foundation trusts, and NHS trusts, with maintaining their facilities effectively the Department provides the NHS Premises Assurance Model. Further information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-premises-assurance-model-launch

NHS Property and Estates Review

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 4.7 of the Government Response to the Naylor Review, published on 30 January 2018, whether specialist support and guidance to the NHS for areas such as contract management will be provided by NHS staff and not by external management consultancies.

Stephen Barclay: As set out in paragraph 4.7 of the Government Response to the Naylor Review, NHS Improvement will provide specialist support and guidance on areas such as contract management, as part of their National Health Service estates policy and technical guidance programme.

Surgical Mesh Implants

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will immediately suspend the use of medical procedures involving vaginal mesh implants.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government does not support a suspension or ban of the use of surgical mesh devices. The view of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is that surgical mesh devices are acceptably safe when used as intended and as part of an appropriate treatment pathway where the associated risk and benefits are considered, and where surgical mesh devices conform to the requirements of the current legislation in the European Union. As a Department we are committed to improving the outcomes for all patients involved. We continue to work closely with MHRA, NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and professional bodies. MHRA continue to review available evidence to ensure our regulatory position is up to date, liaising with EU partners and non-EU regulators.

NHS Property and Estates Review

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans there are to extend access to accredited training and development in the development of high quality business cases as set out in the Government’s response to the Naylor Review, published on 30 January 2018, to other NHS organisations.

Stephen Barclay: Accredited training and development is already available to support National Health Service organisations in the development of business cases, for example, the Better Business Cases training programme, based on The Five Case Model. The Five Case Model, used widely across Government to support development of capital investment business cases, is a best practice approach to planning spending proposals and enabling effective business decisions. The training provides a step by step guide to developing a business case, focusing on the ability of delegates to establish a case for change, setting clear objectives, undertaking a wide ranging options appraisal to ensure an optimal balance of benefits, cost and risk and putting the arrangements in place to successfully deliver the business case proposal. We will promote the benefits and availability of accredited training on the development of high-quality business cases to encourage and incentivise take up across the NHS.

Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that sustainability and transformation partnerships are held accountable for the successful delivery of approved capital developments given those partnerships are not legal entities.

Stephen Barclay: Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) are not statutory organisations, but a new way for the National Health Service and local government to work together. Each partnership is convened by a senior leader who has agreed to chair and lead the meetings on behalf of their peers. Each footprint has agreed to its own governance and representation, and all bodies represented on the partnership have agreed to abide by its decision making process. As STPs are not legal entities the actual delivery of schemes, such as holding contracts with builders, will be undertaken by individual organisations within these STPs acting on behalf of their local area. These organisations will be responsible for delivering the schemes, in line with their existing statutory, responsibilities as is the case of all NHS spending. The ability of these partnerships to act collectively as health and care systems in the interests of patients and residents – rather than solely pursing institutional interests – is critically dependent on the strength of the relationships they are able to build. Last year the Department, NHS Improvement and NHS England organised a bidding process to enable these local partnerships to access the first waves of capital funding. Each bid required sign off from a senior representative of both the bidding organisation and the STP of which that organisation is a part. The NHS joint planning guidance, published January 2018 makes clear that access to additional STP capital will only be considered once partners within a given STP footprint have agreed to a single estates and capital plan, in addition to other criteria.

Food: Advertising

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2018 to Question 126149, what steps he is taking to initiate discussions with representatives from social media companies on restricting junk food adverts available to children.

Steve Brine: The restrictions on food and drink advertising put in place to protect children are based on a tool called a Nutrient Profiling Model. Each food and drink is assigned a score based on how much sugar, fat, salt, fruit, vegetables and nuts, fibre and protein it contains, which helps to determine whether individual products should or should not be advertised to children. The Government committed to updating the current Nutrient Profiling Model in the childhood obesity plan to ensure it reflects the latest Government dietary guidelines. Public Health England is working with academics, industry, health non-Governmental organisations and other stakeholders to deliver on this commitment and will consult on the updated model in early 2018. Social media companies will be able to contribute to this process.

Pupils: Health

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on improving the health of pupils through increased participation in sport.

Steve Brine: The Government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people, particularly those who are currently least active or from under-represented groups, have the best opportunities to engage in sport and physical activity. Ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Education and Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport meet regularly as part of the Ministerial School Sport Board. The group last met on 20 February 2018.

Air Pollution

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of levels of mortality linked to outdoor air pollution exposure at local authority level.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for the most recent data from indicator 3.01 in the Public Health Outcomes Framework to be published by Public Health England.

Steve Brine: Public Health England’s 2014 report ‘Estimating local mortality burdens associated with particulate air pollution’ estimated the mortality burden in 2010 associated with long-term exposure to human-made particulate air pollution at local authority level, expressed in terms of attributable deaths and associated loss of life. Further information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimating-local-mortality-burdens-associated-with-particulate-air-pollution The Public Health Outcomes Framework will release updated data in May 2018, including the indicator 3.01 Fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution.

NHS: Negligence

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the effectiveness of legislation on medical negligence compensation.

Stephen Barclay: Between 2006-07 and 2016-17, annual cash costs for clinical negligence quadrupled from £0.4 billion to £1.6 billion, and the number of claims registered with NHS Resolution doubled from 5,300 to 10,600. As we develop, by September 2018, a cross-Government strategy to tackle the rising costs of clinical negligence as challenged by the National Audit Office, we will consider a full range of issues and options. This will include the issue raised by the Public Accounts Committee in its recent report, ‘Managing the Costs of Clinical Negligence in Hospital Trusts’, published on 1 December 2017, which asked the Department to consider whether current legislation remains adequate.

NHS Property and Estates Review

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 4.9 of the Government Response to the Naylor Review, published in January 2018, when the comprehensive dataset on the primary care estate will be completed and available for enquiries.

Stephen Barclay: A primary care estates review and data collection exercise will be undertaken by NHS England through 2018/19, commencing in April 2018 and is expected to be concluded by 31 March 2019.

NHS Property and Estates Review

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph of 4.13 of the Government Response to the Naylor Review published in January 2018, if he will publish the evaluations of the small number of sustainability and transformation partnerships that have been assessed by the group of strategic estatesadvisers.

Stephen Barclay: The purpose of the pilot undertaken with a small group of sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs) was to develop an operating model for the strategic estates planning function that we are now establishing. The team worked with the STPs to understand their challenges, ways of working and the nature of the support that all STPs will need to accomplish their respective estates transformation ambitions. A summary report of the pilot programme will be published in due course.

NHS Property and Estates Review

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 4.22 of the Government Response to the Naylor Review, published in January 2018, what steps the Property Board takes to improve the quality of business cases.

Stephen Barclay: On behalf of the NHS Property Board, NHS England and NHS Improvement are developing plans for the training of key National Health Service staff involved in the development, assurance and approval of capital investment business cases. It is anticipated that this will be rolled out during 2018/19. They will focus efforts on building capability within the NHS to improve the quality of business cases coming forward for approval. They will work closely with commissioners and providers from the early stages of business case development to provide advice and guidance to enable them to meet the required standards for approval. In order to build greater capability within the NHS, we are establishing a single, integrated strategic estates planning team to support sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs) in delivering their transformation plans. The team will be a centre of expertise and primary source of support on strategic estates planning advice, and report to the NHS Property Board. Working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement, the team will provide advice to STPs and NHS organisations in relation to best practice business case development to support the timely delivery of better quality business cases.

NHS Property and Estates Review

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 5.5 of the Government Response to the Naylor Review, published in January 2018, what the timetable is for the prioritised capital investment plans covering whole sustainability and transformation partnerships footprints to be (a) completed and (b) published.

Stephen Barclay: Working with Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) to refine their estates and capital plans is a priority for the new Strategic Estates Planning team. The Government response to the Naylor review was clear that STPs cannot expect to receive additional Government capital funding until they have developed robust and ambitious capital and estates plans, which support their clinical strategies. As STPs are at different stages in this process we have not set a specific date for these plans to be completed. The publication of these plans is a matter for STPs which are subject to requirements to consult on changes to clinical services.

NHS Property and Estates Review

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 5.11 of the Government Response to the Naylor Review, published in January 2018, what steps he is taking to ensure that business cases will have the full support of sustainability and transformation partnerships.

Stephen Barclay: Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) are not statutory organisations, but a new way for the National Health Service and local government to work together. Each partnership is convened by a senior leader who has agreed to chair and lead the meetings on behalf of their peers. Each footprint has agreed to its own governance and representation, and all bodies represented on the partnership have agreed to abide by its decision making process. The ability of these partnerships to act collectively as health and care systems in the interests of patients and residents – rather than solely pursing institutional interests – is critically dependent on the strength of the relationships they are able to build. Last year the Department, NHS Improvement and NHS England organised a bidding process to enable these local partnerships to access the first waves of capital funding. Each bid required sign off from a senior representative of both the bidding organisation and the STP of which that organisation is a part. The NHS Joint planning guidance, published January 2018 makes clear that access to additional STP capital will only be considered once partners within a given STP footprint have agreed to a single estates and capital plan, in addition to other criteria.

NHS Property and Estates Review

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 5.12 of the Government Response to the Naylor Review, published in January 2018, what steps he has taken to (a) renegotiate and (b) replace PFI schemes.

Stephen Barclay: This Government has undertaken a number of initiatives and will continue to assist National Health Service trusts to look for ways to reduce their Private Finance Initiative (PFI) commitments. The Department has helped and advised local trust contract managers where requested in relation to PFI contractual issues and also to support trusts in making operational savings in their PFI schemes. Final decisions however about the level and quality of these services are best made at a local level where these services interact with local delivery activities. Opportunities for re-financing PFI schemes are being investigated, although these are now comparatively limited given the nature of the financial instruments used by the PFI companies at the time. We have also looked very carefully at cases for terminating PFI schemes – a buy out – but in following Treasury guidance this has generally proved not to be value for money or affordable. One of the first things the Government did in 2010 was to begin an initiative to extract savings and better value for money at all the signed and operational PFI contracts.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Children

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the most common reason is for children being admitted to A&E.

Stephen Barclay: The most common reasons for admissions to accident and emergency (A&E) for patients aged 0-17 in the 2016/17 financial year is shown in the table below. This is a count of attendances, not individual patients as the same person may have attended A&E on more than one occasion.Primary diagnosisSum of attendancesDiagnosis not classifiable620,134Dislocation/fracture/joint injury/amputation262,848Respiratory conditions237,747Sprain/ligament injury220,033Head injury197,876Soft tissue inflammation194,299Laceration180,179Contusion/abrasion171,086Gastrointestinal conditions162,182Ear, nose and throat conditions161,860Infectious disease144,381Nothing abnormal detected101,602Dermatological conditions63,756Local infection63,152Ophthalmological conditions55,118Foreign body49,781Urological conditions (inc. cystitis)44,846Central nervous system conditions (exc. stroke)42,328Muscle/tendon injury41,387Burns and scalds38,765Poisoning (inc. overdose)31,902Allergy (inc. anaphylaxis)28,218Psychiatric conditions18,425Bites/stings16,849Cardiac conditions15,071Facio-maxillary conditions11,931Gynaecological conditions8,077Cerebro-vascular conditions6,558Haematological conditions5,941Septicaemia5,211Diabetes and other endocrinological conditions5,069Social problems (including chronic alcoholism and homelessness)2,722Other vascular conditions2,683Electric shock1,588Obstetric conditions1,194Visceral injury964Nerve injury845Vascular injury727Near drowning543Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS Digital Notes: Primary diagnosis: It should be noted that the recording of the diagnosis field within the A&E data set is not mandatory. It is not known to what extent changes over time are as a result of improvements in recording practice.It should be noted, in 2016/17 there were also approximately 1.4 million attendances classified as ‘null/blank’ and 300,000 classified as ‘Invalid code’.

Medical Treatments: Innovation

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what evidence his Department submitted to the OECD's report on Sustainable Access to Innovative Therapies.

Steve Brine: Officials at the Department have commented on drafts of the Sustainable Access to Innovative Therapies report as it has been developed.

Health Services: Complaints

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many formal complaints (a) mental health services and (b) the NHS received in each region in each month of each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 20 February 2018.The correct answer should have been:

NHS Digital is the organisation responsible for collecting and publishing National Health Service complaints data. These data were collected annually until 1 April 2015. NHS Digital now collects these data quarterly and monthly data are not available. The attached tables show quarterly data received in respect of NHS mental health services for the periods requested. Because of changes to the method and frequency of the data collection NHS Digital currently classify data from April 2015 as ‘experimental’ so they cannot be compared with previous years. 



NHS Complaints Data
(Excel SpreadSheet, 42.09 KB)

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS Digital is the organisation responsible for collecting and publishing National Health Service complaints data. These data were collected annually until 1 April 2015. NHS Digital now collects these data quarterly and monthly data are not available. The attached tables show quarterly data received in respect of NHS mental health services for the periods requested. Because of changes to the method and frequency of the data collection NHS Digital currently classify data from April 2015 as ‘experimental’ so they cannot be compared with previous years. 



NHS Complaints Data
(Excel SpreadSheet, 42.09 KB)

Pregnancy: Alcoholic Drinks and Drugs

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of drink and drug abuse among pregnant women.

Steve Brine: The 2016 UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines provide the public with the most up to date scientific information to help people make informed decisions about their own drinking. The guidelines recommend that if you are pregnant or think you could become pregnant, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all to keep risks to the baby to a minimum. The guidelines are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-consumption-advice-on-low-risk-drinkingAdvice about alcohol and drugs is available to pregnant women as part of their routine antenatal care. Pregnant women who misuse alcohol or drugs will be put in contact with a midwife or doctor who has special experience in the care of pregnant women with alcohol or drug problems. They will be able to refer them to an alcohol or drug treatment programme and other organisations that can help.

Molybdenum

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the Government plans to supply molybdenum-9, used for the manufacture of technetium-99 generators after the UK leaves Euratom.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to ensure the continued supply of molybdenum-99 after UK leaves Euratom.

Steve Brine: The Government is fully aware of the importance of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) supplies for the National Health Service. However, Euratom places no restrictions on the export of medical isotopes to countries outside the European Union. Therefore, the United Kingdom’s ability to import medical isotopes from Europe and the rest of the world, will not be affected by withdrawal from Euratom. The Government recognises the concern that changes to customs and border processes as a result of withdrawal from the EU and the EU Customs Union could affect the timely supply of medical radioisotopes. It is in the interest of both the UK and EU to avoid disruption in the timely access of treatment to patients; and to ensure that cross-border trade with the EU is frictionless as possible. Continued access to these critical products remains a high priority topic for the Government in both our domestic preparations as well as in our negotiations on our future relationship with the EU.

Mental Health Services: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many approved mental health professionals there were in each local authority area of England and Wales in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Holding answer received on 23 February 2018



There are no official statistics for the number of approved mental health professionals (AMHPs) in each local authority area of England and Wales. We are working with Skills for Care which undertakes an annual National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) collection with local authorities in England, to provide returns on the number of Approved Mental Health Professionals in their area. As part of this, on 8 February NHS Digital’s Personal Social Services: Staff of Social Services Departments, England 2017 publication highlighted work by Skills for Care to improve the coverage and completeness of the voluntary AMHP qualification field within the NMDS.

Pregnancy: Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the net change has been in the number of in-patient perinatal beds since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information available is shown in the table below. There has been a net increase of 10 beds in mother and baby commissioned beds between 2013/14 and 2017/18. National Health Service commissioned mother and baby beds 2013/14-2016/17. YearCommissioned beds (England)2013/141102014/151102015/161122016/17120

NHS: Leeds

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the additional NHS funding announced in Autumn Budget 2017 will be spent in (a) Leeds North West constituency and (b) Leeds.

Stephen Barclay: NHS England allocates funding to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), rather than to individual constituencies. Leeds is currently served by three CCGs – NHS Leeds West CCG, NHS Leeds North CCG and NHS Leeds South and East CCG. However, from April 2018 it is expected that the three Leeds CCG will merge into one. The merger was approved by the Commissioning Committee in October 2016, subject to conditions that the CCGs are in the process of discharging. Over the next few days NHS England expect to receive formal confirmation that those conditions have been met and the merger will proceed. Following the Autumn Budget’s announcement of an extra £1.6 billion of revenue funding for the National Health Service in 2018-19, NHS England has issued new planning guidance detailing how funding will be distributed in the coming year. The amount of extra funding that will be allocated to NHS Leeds CCG in 2018-19 is £8,677,000 and can be found page 1, column 7 of the document available below: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Revised-CCG-allocations-2018-19-1.pdf

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) in-patient and (b) community mental health services for children and young people in (i) Sunderland and (ii) the North East.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Northumberland, Tyne and Wear (NTW) and North Durham set out its ambitions for developing its health services, including mental health services, in its draft Sustainability and Transformation Plan in 2016. This is available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/systemchange/view-stps The plan includes an ambition to reduce demand for secondary and tertiary children and young people’s services, and to increase the percentage of children and young people with a diagnosable mental health condition that receive community health services. We are advised by Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group that improvements to mental health services for children and young people (CYP) are being made, including improved pathways for CYP with neuro developmental disorders, enhanced community mental health, eating disorders and intensive community treatment services. In addition, in June 2017, NTW submitted a proposal to NHS England to become a New Model of Care Wave 2 pilot site for Tier 4 Children and Young People’s Services across Mental Health and Learning Disability services. This proposal was successfully approved and commenced in October 2017.

Mental Health Services

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to achieve the Government’s national ambition to eliminate inappropriate out of area placements for mental health services for (a) adults and (b) children and young people in acute in-patient care by 2020-21.

Jackie Doyle-Price: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is committed to ensuring that patients with mental health conditions can receive treatment as close as possible to where they live. For adults, inappropriate out of area placements (OAPs) are unacceptable and the Government is committed to delivering the target to eliminate these in non-specialist, acute mental health care by 2020/21. To support this ambition, we have established a national approach to defining non-specialist acute OAPs and a regular data collection to monitor current activity and progress. NHS England and NHS Improvement now have a comprehensive national programme supporting reductions in OAPs, and every local area is currently developing a trajectory towards ending this practice by no later than 2021. The commitment to reduce OAPs has been formalised in the NHS 2018/19 planning guidance and included in the NHS Improvement Single Oversight Framework. For children and young people, NHS England has a major programme underway to improve inpatient care, by opening between 150 and 180 new beds and ensuring that the right beds are in the right place in the country. The ambition is that by 2020/21 no children are inappropriately admitted or sent out of area to receive anything but the most specialist mental health care.

Self-harm: Children and Young People

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase support services for children and young people who self-harm.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We updated the Cross-Government National Suicide Prevention Strategy in 2017 and expanded its scope to include addressing self-harm as an issue in its own right as one the strategy’s key areas for action. The National Strategy promotes the implementation of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on the management and treatment of self-harm. The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health (2016) required all local areas to have in place multi-agency suicide prevention plans to ensure local services, who may come into contact with people at risk of suicide, work together to implement tailored actions to reduce suicide in their communities. Guidance issued to local authorities by Public Health England in October 2017 on how to develop multi-agency suicide prevention plans makes a clear expectation that local plans should seek to deliver the key areas for action of the national strategy at local level. This would include addressing self-harm within local communities. Almost every local area has a plan in place and we will be working with local areas to quality assure their plans. We are investing £25 million between 2018-20 to support suicide prevention within National Health Service Sustainability and Transformation Plan areas. NHS England is committed through the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health to implement a comprehensive set of mental health care pathways by 2020/21, which includes a care pathway for self-harm by 2019. We are also investing £247 million to roll-out liaison mental health teams to every acute hospital by 2020. Evidence shows that liaison mental health teams are well placed to deal with people who present at hospital for self-harm. The Department also works with a wide range of stakeholders through the National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group and the National Suicide Prevention Alliance to engage experts and voluntary and charitable sector organisations to explore issues around self-harm to inform policy development. In addition, the Department funds the Multi-Centre Study of Self-Harm in England which is the only data collection, analysis and research programme of its type in England which monitors self-harm data and trends to provide research outputs and trend analysis to inform national policy development.The Government is implementing a wide range of national policy initiatives and backed by record investment to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, which provide national preventative interventions to reduce the risk of self-harm in children and young people. The Government are making available £1.4 billion up to 2020 to transform children and young people’s mental health and we are investing £400 million to improve mental health crisis care in the community. We published a joint health and education Green Paper on Children and Young People’s Mental Health in December 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision-a-green-paper This is supported by over £300 million of additional funding and sets out ambitious proposals to improve mental health services for all children and young people. This includes:- incentivising every school and college to appoint a Senior Designated Lead for mental health;- creating new Mental Health Support Teams to improve support in and close to schools and colleges; and- piloting a four-week waiting time standard for NHS children and young people’s mental health services as we roll out the Support Teams. We are also rolling out Mental Health First Aid training to every secondary school and will begin rolling training out to all primary schools from this year to equip teachers with the skills and confidence to provide support to children and young people who may be experiencing mental health problems.The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to address issues around the impact of the internet and social media on mental health and wellbeing. The Government published a Green Paper last year setting out a National Internet Safety Strategy which seeks to address potential online harms and the Government has held roundtable discussions with internet and social media companies to encourage them to step up to do more to safeguard their users. Online safety is supported by the work of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety. We also work with voluntary and charitable sector organisations to support programmes to address potentially harmful content, including websites which may encourage self-harming.

Brain: Tumours

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the link between early diagnosis of brain tumours following MRI scans and cancer survival rates; and what steps his Department is taking to improve the early detection of such tumours.

Steve Brine: Cancerous brain tumours are difficult to diagnose and often require immediate treatment. Adults with suspected brain and central nervous system cancers are urgently referred for an MRI scan of the brain for assessment1. For diagnosed patients, the survival statistics2 are:- 14% of patients survive for ten years or more;- 19% of patients survive for five years or more; and- 40% of patients survive for one year or more. Earlier diagnosis is a key priority for NHS England. We are investing £200 million in transformation funding for earlier diagnosis and better post-treatment care and support for cancer patients. The National Cancer Programme has established a number of initiatives to support ambitions of improving earlier diagnosis including:- The Accelerate, Coordinate, Evaluate (ACE) programme tests a new, multi-disciplinary diagnostic centre approach to diagnosing patients. The model is focussed on patients with vague or unclear but concerning symptoms, to ensure they receive a diagnosis as quickly as possible; and- The Faster Diagnosis Standard aims to ensure that patients that are referred for an investigation with a suspicion of cancer, including brain tumours, are diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days, and we are continuing to move towards national implementation, with a new measurement system going live in hospitals from 1 April 2018. The Government is also supportive of HeadSmart, a United Kingdom-wide campaign to reduce diagnosis times of childhood brain tumours. The campaign aims to raise national awareness of the common signs and symptoms of a brain tumour in children and young people by equipping parents, the public and healthcare professionals with the information they need. Finally, last week the Government announced a package, alongside Cancer Research UK and Brain Tumour Research, to boost research and investment into brain tumours. We will commit £20 million, through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), over the next five years – with the aim of doubling this amount once new high-quality research proposals become available. Cancer Research UK has also confirmed £25 million over five years in major research centres and programmes dedicated to brain tumours. This research will make new discoveries that the NIHR can then translate into treatments for patients. Notes: 1National Institute for Health and Care Excellence – https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng12/chapter/1-recommendations-organised-by-site-of-cancer#brain-and-central-nervous-system-cancers2Cancer Research UK - http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/brain-other-cns-and-intracranial-tumours#heading-Zero

Defibrillators

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to publicise phone apps that enable people in England to find the location of the nearest Automatic External Defibrillator.

Steve Brine: NHS England has advised the Department that it has no current plans to publicise phone apps that enable people in England to find the location of the nearest Automatic External Defibrillator.

Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Report of the Liverpool Community Health Independent Review, published in January 2018, whether the evidence provided to that review will be published.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Improvement does not hold the evidence, only the final report. The evidence was gathered by the Independent Review team. The review team has no intention to publish the evidence, as the report is the output of their work.

Liverpool Prison: Psychiatry

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prisoners at HMP Liverpool have been waiting for more than (a) a week (b) a month, (c) two months, (d) three months, (e) four months and (f) five months to see a psychiatrist; and whether any of those prisoners have died from suicide in each of the last two years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England commissions health services in prisons, including at HMP Liverpool. Data on the waiting times to see a psychiatrist is not currently collected.

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the total sleep-in back pay liability for care providers in the Worsley and Eccles South constituency.

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the total sleep-in back pay liability for care providers in the Salford local authority area.

Caroline Dinenage: Information on total sleep-in back pay liability for care providers is not available for specific locations. The Government has worked with the sector, and commissioned further market analysis to assess the impact on the sector nationally, however this forms part of the evidence base that is being used to assess options and is subject to further analysis and refinement.The Government recognises the pressures these liabilities are placing on providers of social care. We are exploring options to minimise any impact on the sector.

Dental Services: North East

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money was returned to the public purse from (a) Newcastle Central and (b) North East dental practices in each of the last seven years.

Steve Brine: This information is not held centrally.

Dental Services : Fees and Charges

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the rate of increase of patient contributions to NHS dental costs has been over the last seven years.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the rate of inflation of NHS dental charges to patients.

Steve Brine: The two tables below show respectively the actual patient charges that applied, by band, in each of the last seven years and the percentage increase each year that represents, by band. 2011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/172017/18Band 1£17.00£17.50£18.00£18.50£18.80£19.70£20.60Band 2£47.00£48.00£49.00£50.50£51.30£53.90£56.30Band 3£204.00£209.00£214.00£219.00£222.50£233.70£244.30Urgent£17.00£17.50£18.00£18.50£18.80£19.70£20.60 2011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/172017/18Band 1-2.9%2.9%2.8%1.6%4.8%4.6%Band 2-2.1%2.1%3.1%1.6%5.1%4.5%Band 3-2.5%2.4%2.3%1.6%5.0%4.5%Urgent-2.9%2.9%2.8%1.6%4.8%4.6%Source: NHS England Decisions on increases to National Health Service patient charges, including dental patient charges, are made carefully. Many patients are either exempt or entitled to help with charges. NHS dental patient charges do not apply to children (all those under 18 or under 19 if still in full time education). All pregnant and nursing mothers and those on qualifying benefits are also exempt. In addition, adults who are not in receipt qualifying benefits but are on a low income may qualify for full or partial help with charges through the Low Income Scheme.

Dental Services: Care Homes

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what system is in place for people in care homes to receive dental health care.

Steve Brine: NHS England has a legal duty to commission National Health Service dental services to meet local need and people living in care homes may, if able, access care through high street dental provision. NHS England is expected, where an individual is unable to leave his or her home or care home, to commission appropriate domiciliary services.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence ‘Oral Health in Care Homes’ quality standard is available at:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs151/chapter/Quality-statement-1-Oral-health-assessment-in-care-homesThis provides guidance to care home staff on assessing the oral health needs of patients on admission and advises on the need for residents to be helped to find a dentist if they do not already have one.

Dental Health: Older People

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for dental health of an ageing population.

Steve Brine: The national Adult Dental Health Survey is carried out every decade and provides the only source of essential evidence on adult oral health status, oral health inequalities, oral health related quality of life and oral health behaviours in England. The last survey results from 2009 is available to view here:http://content.digital.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalsurveyfullreport09 In 2016, Public Health England published, ‘What is Known About the Oral Health of Older People in England and Wales: A review of oral health surveys of older people’. This summarises what is already known about the current and future oral health needs of older people in England and Wales. The report can be viewed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/489756/What_is_known_about_the_oral_health_of_older_people.pdf A survey of mildly dependent older people was undertaken in England in 2015-16, and results of this will be published in the summer.

Department for International Development

Brazil: Overseas Aid

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much money her Department has spent on (a) direct aid and (b) providing assistance to (i) the Brazilian Government and (ii) projects in Brazil in each year since 2010.

Harriett Baldwin: Since 2010 DFID has not provided any direct bilateral official development assistance (ODA) to Brazil. CDC made four equity investments in private companies in Brazil prior to 2012. The Newton Fund, the Global Challenge Research Fund and the International Climate Fund have funded projects in Brazil.

Developing Countries: Religious Freedom

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how her Department conducts due diligence assessments and evaluates the commitment of its partners to the partnership principles and to promoting freedom of religion or belief.

Harriett Baldwin: All due diligence assessments on civil society organisations consider four areas: corporate governance and internal controls; ability to deliver the programme proposed; financial stability; and ability to manage downstream partners. They check for an ethics policy that includes coverage of human rights. A team of DFID staff under the supervision of a Head of Department carry out the assessment, drawing on specialist external expertise when required.DFID assesses commitment to each of four Partnership Principles when considering providing funding to a government. This is done by specialist DFID Advisers under the supervision of a Head of Department. One of the Principles is ‘commitment to human rights’, which includes freedom of religion or belief. Evidence of lack of commitment to the Principles would influence choices on the amount and type of aid. DFID contractual and grant arrangements for organisations other than governments include specific clauses to prevent any discrimination against protected characteristics, including religion or belief.

Department for International Development: Sexual Harassment

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what policies her Department has in place for its staff to report sexual harrassment and other non-consensual sexual behaviour; how many of her Department's staff have been reported for sexual harrassment and other non-consensual sexual activity in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017; in how many cases such reports have led to the suspension, demotion or sacking of the staff in question; and if she will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 26 February 2018.The correct answer should have been:

All DFID staff are bound by both the Civil Service Code and DFID’s Code of Conduct, which set clear standards of conduct to protect all staff and anyone the organisation has contact with. These codes are well publicised to staff and cover any form of sexual exploitation and abuse, bullying, or harassment of staff, partners or beneficiaries and make clear that staff should not do anything in their private conduct which might discredit the department. DFID has mechanisms to allow staff raising concerns with management along with a distinct whistleblowing hotline which staff can use anonymously to report cases. A breach of any of the standards set out in our Code of Conduct can lead to formal disciplinary action and potential dismissal for gross misconduct. As previously announced by the Secretary of State, DFID is currently reviewing any locally reported allegations of sexual misconduct involving its own staff. This will complete shortly and therefore we are not currently in a position to share the detail of any cases. DFID’s Dignity at Work policy confirms that DFID is committed to achieving equality of opportunity for our staff and will not tolerate any form of discrimination, harassment, bullying or victimisation of employees, this includes sexual harassment and other non-consensual sexual activity. The policy applies to all staff and includes personal responsibilities to create and sustain a working environment free of bullying and harassment where individuals are treated with fairness, dignity and respect. The policy also makes clear how staff should report any concerns. DFID’s standards of conduct set out the ethical behaviours and controls required in our day to day work to incorporate the key principles based on the UN’s code on sexual exploitation and abuse in Humanitarian crises. DFID’s Public Interest Disclosure Policy (Whistleblowing) also allows staff and others to raise concerns anonymously to a confidential Email address. The number of staff formally reported for sexual harassment in the last three years is: 2015 - nil2016 - nil2017 - under five. The key policy documents referred to above have been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Harriett Baldwin: All DFID staff are bound by both the Civil Service Code and DFID’s Code of Conduct, which set clear standards of conduct to protect all staff and anyone the organisation has contact with. These codes are well publicised to staff and cover any form of sexual exploitation and abuse, bullying, or harassment of staff, partners or beneficiaries and make clear that staff should not do anything in their private conduct which might discredit the department. DFID has mechanisms to allow staff raising concerns with management along with a distinct whistleblowing hotline which staff can use anonymously to report cases. A breach of any of the standards set out in our Code of Conduct can lead to formal disciplinary action and potential dismissal for gross misconduct. As previously announced by the Secretary of State, DFID is currently reviewing any locally reported allegations of sexual misconduct involving its own staff. This will complete shortly and therefore we are not currently in a position to share the detail of any cases. DFID’s Dignity at Work policy confirms that DFID is committed to achieving equality of opportunity for our staff and will not tolerate any form of discrimination, harassment, bullying or victimisation of employees, this includes sexual harassment and other non-consensual sexual activity. The policy applies to all staff and includes personal responsibilities to create and sustain a working environment free of bullying and harassment where individuals are treated with fairness, dignity and respect. The policy also makes clear how staff should report any concerns. DFID’s standards of conduct set out the ethical behaviours and controls required in our day to day work to incorporate the key principles based on the UN’s code on sexual exploitation and abuse in Humanitarian crises. DFID’s Public Interest Disclosure Policy (Whistleblowing) also allows staff and others to raise concerns anonymously to a confidential Email address. The number of staff formally reported for sexual harassment in the last three years is: 2015 - nil2016 - nil2017 - under five. The key policy documents referred to above have been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Developing Countries: Coal Fired Power Stations

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department provides to developing countries that want to move towards clean coal technologies to meet their obligations under the Paris climate agreement.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID helps developing countries establish a secure and sustainable energy supply, supporting their economic growth and poverty reduction. DFID is not providing any bilateral assistance for coal-fired power. The Government supports multilateral organisations such as the World Bank to provide assistance for unabated coal-fired power projects overseas only in exceptional circumstances in the poorest countries where there is no feasible alternative. We do however support proposals for financing the additional costs of facilities fully deploying carbon capture and storage technologies.

Armed Conflict: Children

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if her Department will publish a response to the report of Save The Children entitled War on Children, published in February 2018; and what steps her Department is taking better to protect children in those conflict zones referred to in the report.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK is firmly committed to ensuring that the needs of children affected by conflict are addressed. 50% of DFID’s spending is directed towards fragile states and regions, including the many countries which Save the Children highlights are the most dangerous for children.Our investment in protecting children in conflict zones is emphasised through our many multi-lateral and bilateral programmes around the world. Some of the examples of how we achieve this are as follows. We are the largest contributor to Education Cannot Wait, the first global movement aid fund dedicated to education in emergencies and protracted crises. Through this, we target some of the world’s most vulnerable children, aiming to reach 3.4 million children through its first set of investments. We contribute funds to the No Lost Generation Initiative, a commitment by the international community to support children and youth affected by the Syria and Iraq crises, mainly in education and protection. In Somalia, we work with the UN and international NGOs to ensure the rights of children affected by conflict are addressed through family reunification, support to their nutrition needs and reducing the risks faced by displaced children. In Yemen and Iraq we fund UN agencies to undertake critical child protection work. In Afghanistan we seek to change the way the conflict is fought to reduce child casualties and ensure that vulnerable children have access to supportive services.We do not have plans to publish a response to Save the Children’s report, The War on Children - DFID officials are in regular contact with Save the Children on this agenda. We recently partnered to co-host a high level Wilton Park dialogue to address the mental health and psychosocial support needs of children affected by conflict in the Middle East.

Palestinians: UNRWA

Paul Masterton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of spending in the Palestinian Territories by the UN Relief and Works Agency to which her Department contributes funds; and how her Department measures that effectiveness.

Alistair Burt: The UK’s contribution to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s (UNRWA) Programme Budget is based on the Agency meeting rigorous performance indicators. In the last financial year we assessed that UNRWA performed well against our indicators, as measured through annual review processes. The annual review is publically available on DFID’s Development Tracker. The UK has engaged closely with UNRWA on the development of a Medium Term Strategy for 2016-21 to help UNRWA deliver its mandate. This is supported through our technical assistance to UNRWA’s department of Internal Oversight. We engage with other donors and host countries on value for money at a high level through the UNRWA Advisory Commission and Sub-Committee.DFID has due diligence assessment processes to provide assurance over the expenditure of our funds, and DFID’s Occupied Palestinian Territories spending is subject to regular auditing by DFID’s Internal Audit Department and the UK National Audit Office. In the last five years, UNRWA has also been reviewed by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact and the UK International Development Committee. The UK is a long-term supporter of UNRWA, which provides basic services, including basic healthcare, to over 800,000 Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and 1.3 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza.

Gaza: Hospitals

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the provision of fuel for hospitals in Gaza; and if she will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: We remain concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. In January 2018 the World Health Organization (WHO) assessed that power shortages are placing an increasing burden on the health sector, and has recently reported that some hospitals and clinics have been partially closed in order to rationalise fuel. The UK will continue to monitor the effect electricity shortages are having on the health sector and is tracking the UN’s emergency indicators. We urge all parties to take the necessary practical steps to improve conditions, including restoring the availability of electricity as a matter of urgency. The UK is supporting approximately 1 million Gazans by addressing critical water, sanitation and hygiene needs through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and is a long-term supporter of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), which provides basic services to 1.3 million people in Gaza, including basic health care.

Department for International Development: Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what translation arrangements her Department has put in place to enable efficient and accurate handling of Welsh language correspondence from (a) MPs and (b) the general public.

Harriett Baldwin: The Department for International Development obtains services to translate Welsh language correspondence as required.

Rohingya: Refugees

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the levels of education available for Rohingya refugee children.

Alistair Burt: The UK recognises that there is a pressing need to improve education in the Rohingya camps. DFID is one of the largest contributors to the Education Cannot Wait initiative, investing £30m between 2016 and 2018. It has already committed US$3 million (£2.2 million) for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to help cover emergency educational needs. DFID is also supporting education experts and organisations to work with the Ministries of Education in Bangladesh and Burma to agree a curriculum and certification process for Rohingya children in Cox’s Bazar.

Africa: Overseas Aid

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much the Government has provided to church-based agencies for development and humanitarian support in Africa in each of the last five years.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID works closely with a number of Christian organisations in Africa including Christian Aid, Cafod and World Vision, but DFID does not disaggregate and retain specific information on funding to church-based agencies. This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Africa: Overseas Aid

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding the Government has provided to church-based agencies for work in Africa in each of the last five years.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID works closely with a number of Christian organisations in Africa including Christian Aid, Cafod and World Vision, but DFID does not disaggregate and retain specific information on funding to church-based agencies. This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Armed Conflict: Children

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies on the protection of children in armed conflicts of the findings of the Save the Children report entitled War on Children, published in February 2018.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK is firmly committed to ensuring that the needs of children affected by conflict are addressed. 50% of DFID’s spending is directed towards fragile states and regions, including the many countries which Save the Children highlights are the most dangerous for children. Our investment in protecting children in conflict zones is emphasised through our many multilateral and bilateral programmes around the world. Some of the examples of how we achieve this are as follows. We are the largest contributor to Education Cannot Wait, the first global movement aid fund dedicated to education in emergencies and protracted crises. Through this, we target some of the world’s most vulnerable children, aiming to reach 3.4 million children through its first set of investments. We contribute funds to the No Lost Generation Initiative, a commitment by the international community to support children and youth affected by the Syria and Iraq crises, mainly in education and protection. In Somalia, we work with the UN and international NGOs to ensure the rights of children affected by conflict are addressed through family reunification, support to their nutrition needs and reducing the risks faced by displaced children. In Yemen and Iraq we fund UN agencies to undertake critical child protection work. In Afghanistan we seek to change the way the conflict is fought to reduce child casualties and ensure that vulnerable children have access to supportive services.

Department for International Development: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID’s non-departmental public bodies do not use any external recruitment agencies.

Developing Countries: Pneumonia

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to tackle pneumonia in developing countries.

Alistair Burt: The UK is the largest donor to Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, which provides developing countries with pneumococcal vaccine to protect against the main cause of pneumonia. 109 million children were given this vaccine between 2010 and 2016, thanks to Gavi’s support, saving an estimated 762,000 lives.DFID supports Gavi’s Pneumococcol Advanced Market commitment, an innovative funding mechanism that incentivises pharmaceutical companies to produce vaccines for the world’s poorest countries at an affordable cost. DFID also supports countries to build stronger health systems that can respond to existing disease burdens and emerging health issues, including pneumonia, and works to tackle malnutrition, a key risk factor for severe pneumonia.

Developing Countries: Health Services

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will take steps to include investment in healthcare systems in developing countries on the agenda at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London in April 2018.

Alistair Burt: Global health is an important issue to Commonwealth Member States, as it is to the Government. It is likely it will be a key theme at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) in London in April, including covering issues around strengthening health systems in developing countries. Commonwealth Member States will collectively discuss and agree the agenda for CHOGM next month.

Department for Education

Grammar Schools: Disadvantaged

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children receiving free school meals who attend a grammar school were measured as having (a) high and (b) low attainment prior to entering that school in the last year for which data is available.

Nick Gibb: The attached table shows the number and percentage of pupils, at the end of key stage 4[1] in 2016/17, who were eligible for free school meals[2] and attended a selective school[3], split by their prior attainment band[4]. [1] Pupils are identified as being at the end of key stage 4 if they were on roll at the school and in year 11 at the time of the January school census for that year. Age is calculated as at 31 August for that year, and the majority of pupils at the end of key stage 4 were age 15 at the start of the academic year. Some pupils may complete this key stage in an earlier or later year group.[2] Free school meal eligibility is taken from the schools census record for that year. Pupils who do not have their eligibility recorded are counted as part of the ‘all other pupils’ grouping.[3] Selective schools admit pupils wholly or mainly with reference to ability. These schools are formally designated as grammar schools.[4] Pupils are grouped based on their performance in reading and maths at key stage 2. Indicators are shown for:Low attainers = those below the expected level (level 4) at key stage 2; Middle attainers = those at the expected level (level 4) at key stage 2; High attainers = those above the expected level (level 4) at key stage 2.



PQ127291 table
(Word Document, 14.79 KB)

Capita

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has contingency plans for the event of Capita being unable to fulfil its contractual obligations with schools in (a) Brighton and Hove and (b) other areas; what assessment he has made of the total value of contracts between schools and Capita; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The priority of the Government is the continued delivery of public services.Cabinet Office regularly monitors the financial stability of all strategic suppliers, including Capita. Cabinet Office officials continue to engage with all strategic suppliers and make continuing assessments as appropriate. Contingency plans are made when necessary. It would not be appropriate to discuss in any further details of contingency plans associated with particular contracts due to issues of commercial sensitivity. The Department expects Local Authorities and academies to have sufficient contingency plans in place should they need to re-procure services currently provided by Capita.

Vocational Education

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness among students of vocational internships as an alternative to university.

Anne Milton: Internships are work experience placements often undertaken by higher education students and graduates looking to gain relevant skills and experience in a particular field. Outside of higher education, the department widely promotes apprenticeships as jobs with relevant training in a particular profession and is targeting 3 million apprenticeships by 2020. High quality work placements will also be a key element of T levels, which are the centre piece of our technical education reforms. We have begun working with employers, including the launch of a pilot scheme, to test different models and approaches to delivering T level placements. Schools are responsible for providing independent careers guidance on the full range of education and training options both academic and vocational.

Schools: Admissions

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's consultation on Schools that work for everyone, which closed in December 2016; when his Department plans to respond to that consultation; for what reason the Department has not yet responded to that consultation; and whether the Government has any plans to amend the guidance on consultation principles which state a response should be issued within 12 weeks of a consultation.

Nick Gibb: The Department has been considering the responses to the proposals set out in the ‘Schools that Work for Everyone’ consultation, and plans to respond in due course.

Faith Schools: Truancy

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many faith schools are in the highest decile for persistent absence in (a) England and (b) the South East.

Anne Milton: The number of faith schools in the highest decile for persistent absence rate is shown in the attached table.  



128517 Attachment
(Word Document, 12.91 KB)

Office for Students

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department held meetings with or otherwise engaged representative groups from the (a) Muslim, (b) Jewish, (c) Hindu, (d) Sikh and  (e) Christian communities as part of the consultation process on the remit of the Office for Students.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department held meetings or otherwise engaged with (a) LGBTQ+ community, (b) disability rights, (c) sex and gender equality and (d) anti-racist representatives or organisations as part of the consultation process on the remit of the Office for Students.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The department launched seven consultations on aspects of the remit of the Office for Students. These consultations were open to all individuals, representative groups and organisations for response. A full list of all respondents will be included in the responses to these consultations, which will be published shortly.

Office for Students

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what powers are planned for the Office for Students to investigate incidents of racism on campuses.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Providers have a responsibility to ensure that they provide a safe and inclusive environment for all students, and that students do not face discrimination, harassment or victimisation. The responsibility for investigating racist incidents sits with the provider and, where appropriate, it would make use of its internal complaints and disciplinary processes for tackling racist behaviour by individuals or groups of individuals. Where a complaint regarding a racist incident was not resolved through a provider’s internal processes, it could be investigated by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator. Should an incident constitute a criminal offence, it would be investigated by the police. Failure by a provider to fulfil its responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 would be a matter for the Equality and Human Rights Commission as the enforcer of equality legislation rather than for the Office for Students.

Trimega

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of the 20 February 2018 to Question 127866, which local authorities have informed his Department that they have commissioned hair strand tests for drug and alcohol use from Trimega.

Nadhim Zahawi: A number of local authorities have informed the department that they commissioned forensic hair strand tests for drug and alcohol use from Trimega Laboratories Limited (Trimega) during the period January 2010 to April 2014. We continue to work with local authorities to establish the extent to which they used Trimega during this period.

Video Games: Graduates

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of students who have graduated with a degree in video games in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Higher Education Statistics Agency collects and publishes statistics on enrolments and qualifications obtained at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Latest statistics refer to the academic year 2016/17. The table below shows the numbers of first degree qualifiers in computer games subjects for each year since 2012/13. Information on the number of qualifiers in these subjects has been available since the introduction of the third version of Joint Academic Coding System (JACS3) in 2012/13, hence figures cannot be provided for any year prior to that.Full-person-equivalent[1] First Degree qualifiers in computer games subjectsUK HEIsAcademic years 2012/13 to 2016/17 Academic Year Number of qualifiers in computer games subjects[2] 2012/135952013/146252014/156902015/169002016/171,290 [1] Counts are on the basis of full-person-equivalents. Where a student is studying more than one subject, they are apportioned between the subjects that make up their course.[2] Qualifiers in Games (principal category I6 of the JACS), which includes Games, Computer games programming, Computer game design and Computer games graphics. This code is only available since the introduction of JACS3 in 2012/13. More information on JACS codes can be found at the following link: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/jacs.

First Aid: Curriculum

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of making the teaching of first aid a compulsory part of the curriculum in schools.

Nick Gibb: Schools are free to teach first aid, and many schools already choose to teach lifesaving as part of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education. Schools are able to draw on curriculum materials from expert organisations such as the PSHE Association and free teaching kits such as those from the British Heart Foundation. The Children and Social Work Act 2017 requires the Secretary of State to make Relationships Education mandatory in all primary schools, and Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) mandatory in all secondary schools through regulations. The Act also provides for a power to make PSHE, or elements therein, mandatory in all schools, subject to careful consideration. The Department has conducted the first stage of a thorough and planned engagement process with a call for evidence which closed on 12 February, on the scope and content of Relationships Education and RSE, and on the future status of PSHE.

Schools: Vocational Guidance

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2018 to Question 126733 on Schools, how the Government is promoting its statutory guidance on the effect of the Baker Clause on school responsibilities.

Anne Milton: On the day the department published its statutory guidance, we shared it with a wide range of education and careers sector organisations. They distributed this guidance to schools, education and training providers and careers professionals within their networks. We have also promoted our statutory guidance on the deparment’s Twitter account, which has over 267,000 followers. Future plans to remind schools of their new responsibilities to offer access to training providers include further department communication and promotion through ministerial speeches and articles. The Baker Clause forms an important part of the government’s careers strategy, published in December 2017. We are working closely with The Careers & Enterprise Company and The Gatsby Charitable Foundation to promote the careers strategy widely. The Careers & Enterprise Company has been using their networks and advisory groups to make sure schools receive relevant information and continues to provide practical support and advice to schools.

Faith Schools: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many faith schools  in (a) the West Midlands and (b) Coventry are in the highest decile for persistent absence.

Anne Milton: The number of faith schools in the highest decile for persistent absence rate is shown in the attached table.  



Attachment 1
(Word Document, 13.3 KB)

Department for Education: Overtime

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of overtime have been worked by staff in his Department in each of the last 12 months.

Anne Milton: Please find below the number of hours overtime completed by staff in the last 12 months.  Overtime hours paid in monthly payrollFeb –172331Mar –172687Apr – 172486May –171970June–172163July– 172172Aug –172175Sep –171323Oct –172014Nov –172357Dec –172334Jan –181767

Students: Warrington North

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many residents of Warrington North constituency were in receipt of university maintenance grants in the year before they were abolished.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2018 to Question 126727, on Children: day care, for what reasons the Government does not collect this information centrally.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested in relation to Question 126727 is not readily available and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department records whether child care settings which receive public funding have sprinkler systems.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department does not record whether early years childcare settings that receive public funding have sprinkler systems. However, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework, which is mandatory for all early years providers, requires providers to comply with requirements of health and safety legislation, including fire safety. Providers must have appropriate fire detection and control equipment (for example, fire alarms, smoke detectors, fire blankets and/or fire extinguishers) in working order. As the regulator, Ofsted is responsible for making sure providers comply with the requirements of the EYFS.

Prime Minister

Domestic Visits: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Prime Minister, if she will visit Northern Ireland before summer 2018; and if she will make a statement.

Mrs Theresa May: I refer the hon. Member to my speech at Stormont House on 12 February and which is available on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/prime-ministers-statement-at-stormont-house

Borders: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Prime Minister, what discussions she had with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on the effect upon the Irish border of the UK leaving the EU in advance of the Cabinet meetings held on 7 and 8 February 2018; and if she will make a statement.

Mrs Theresa May: I discuss a range of issues with Ministerial colleagues. It has been the practice of successive Governments not to disclose information relating to internal discussions.

Hong Kong: Elections

Richard Burden: To ask the Prime Minister, whether she discussed the disqualification of candidates from Hong Kong elections with the Government of China during her recent visit to that country.

Mrs Theresa May: I refer the hon. Member to the press release issued on 1 February following my meeting with President Xi and which is available on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-meeting-with-president-xi-1-february-2018.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Brexit

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127256, and with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union of 31 January, Official Report, column 833, on the Government’s EU Exit Analysis, in what circumstances his Department can comment on the existence of a leak inquiry; and whether there has been any recent change of policy in this regard.

Suella Fernandes: The Department does not comment on specific leak investigations. We take all leaks of information very seriously.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Planning Permission

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on how many occasions since 2015 he has used his powers under Schedule 6, Paragraph 3 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to determine a planning application appeal which would otherwise be determined by a person appointed by the Secretary of State.

Dominic Raab: The process of appeals being determined by the Secretary of State, instead of one of his appointed Inspectors, is known as “recovery”. Figures for the number of appeals recovered is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/planning-inspectorate-statistics

Social Rented Housing: Tenants' Rights

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many people have been removed from social housing because they did not have succession rights to remain following the death of the previous sole or joint tenant in each year since 2012 .

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the cost to the public purse was of tenants living in social housing who do not have succession rights appealing local authority decisions in each year since 2012.

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been provided with alternative social housing as a result of being removed from existing social housing for which they are no longer eligible following the death of the previous tenant.

Dominic Raab: The Department does not hold this information.There is nothing to prevent a local authority or Private Registered Provider of social housing from granting a new tenancy to a person who remains in the property but has no right to succeed, either in the same property or a different property. This is provided that doing so is in line with their own policies for allocating tenancies, which in the case of local authorities, must prioritise those in housing need.

Local Government: Accountability

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 12 October 2017 to Question 107540, on local government: accountability, whether his Department has made any progress on further steps to ensure compliance.

Rishi Sunak: That work is still underway and I will update the House when that work has concluded. The government remains committed to the transparency agenda and in ensuring that local authorities are accountable to citizens.

Private Rented Housing: Carbon Monoxide

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the level of risk to private sector tenants of  carbon monoxide poisoning from (a) solid fuel burning appliances, (b) gas burning appliances and (c) other fuel burning appliances; and will he make a statement.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: This is published online at:http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120920030533/http:/www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/1527579.pdfandhttp://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20091003071019/http:/www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/1324663

Rough Sleeping

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of rough sleepers who have been found dead in public places in each year for which such information is available.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: My Department does not collect data on deaths in public places of people sleeping rough in England. The death of any rough sleeper is a tragedy. That is why this Government has committed to halving rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminating it altogether by 2027. We have announced a new Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Reduction Taskforce, chaired by the Secretary of State, which will drive forward the implementation of a cross-Government strategy to tackle this issue.We have allocated over £1 billion through to 2020 to prevent and reduce all forms of homelessness including piloting a Housing First approach for some of the most entrenched rough sleepers.

Bed and Breakfast Accommodation

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how the ban on local authorities accommodating homeless families and pregnant women in B&B accommodation for longer than 6 weeks is being enforced.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Holding answer received on 26 February 2018



Time spent in temporary accommodation means people are getting help and it ensures no family is without a roof over their head. The law is clear that households with dependent children should only be accommodated in B&B in an emergency and then for no longer than 6 weeksOur new Homelessness Advice and Support Team, drawn from local authorities and the homelessness sector, is providing support to local authorities to help them address their homelessness challenges, including the use of B&B accommodation for families.We are taking unprecedented action to change how we tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. We have committed £1 billion through to 2020 to support local services and changing how local authorities operate by implementing the Homelessness Reduction Act from 3 April 2018 to help more people get tailored support sooner when they are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

High Rise Flats: Coventry South

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of safety in high rise tower blocks in Coventry South constituency.

Dominic Raab: The Building Safety Programme has been working with local authorities and building owners across England to identify properties that might have potentially unsafe cladding systems. For all of those high-rise buildings that have been confirmed as having aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding that does not meet the limited combustibility requirements set out in current building regulations guidance, the relevant fire and rescue service has been notified. We have worked with local authorities, housing associations, fire and rescue services and building owners to ensure that immediate steps are taken to make buildings safe.

Sleeping Rough: Supported Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of proposals for the future funding of supported housing on levels of rough sleeping; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The same amount of funding that would have been available through Housing Benefit or housing element of Universal Credit to fund supported housing in 2020/21 will be made available as grant instead.The recently established Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Reduction Taskforce will design and drive forward the implementation of our cross-government strategy to achieve our commitment of halving rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminating it altogether by 2027. We have also brought together a panel of external experts through the Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel, who will be working closely with the Taskforce in developing the strategy to achieve our manifesto commitments.The Government has already taken important steps to prevent and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. This includes, allocating over £1 billion in funding through to 2020 and taking forward the most ambitious legislative reform in this area in decades, the Homelessness Reduction Act, which will mean people will get the help they need sooner.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Jake Berry: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Dogs

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military dogs have been (a) destroyed because they are considered dangerous for public safety and (b) re-homed in each year since 2012.

Gavin Williamson: Military Working Dogs (MWD) provide an invaluable service to our troops, and every effort is made to rehome them at the end of their service life. Decisions are taken following an extensive assessment of the dogs and any potential new home. Sadly, there are some occasions where it is not possible to rehome, for example when the dog poses a risk to public safety. In such cases decisions are taken following a full assessment by military veterinarians and dog behaviourist experts.Information relating to the number of MWDs rehomed since 2013 can be found in the table below. Information prior to this date is not held centrally.YearMWD Re-homed20131012014123201514320161142017121Total602 Information on why MWDs are euthanised is not held in the format requested. For information on the reasons why MWDs have been euthanised since 2012 I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans (Mark Lancaster) to Question 66528 on 8 March 2017. Information regarding why MWDs have been euthanised since 6 March 2017 is provided in the table below. Reasons06/03/17  - 31/12/2017Chronic Recurrent Lameness1Chronic Soft Tissue Issue1Degenerative Joint Disease6Failing to maintain standards[1]6Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation1Heavy bleeding/Infected anal furniculous1Kidney Disease, Skin Disease, Degenerative Joint Disease1Lumber-Sacral Disease Unremitting Pain1Multiple Malignant Tumours1Aged/welfare concerns5Dangerous temperament6Rapid Onset Degenerative Myelopathy1Severe non weight bearing lameness non-responsive to medication1Spinal Disease3Splenic Neoplasia1Suspected Haemangiosarcoma1Unremitting Osteo Arthritis Pain1Total38 [1] All descriptions are based directly on veterinary records. Some dogs included in these categories will have not been suitable for rehoming based on behaviour and temperament, with potential consequences to public safety. The expression ‘failing to maintain standards’ can include a combination of welfare and behavioural issues.



66528 - WQnA extract on Working Military Dogs
(Word Document, 32.47 KB)

Ministry of Defence: Mental Health Services

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to establish within his Department and each service of the Armed Forces improved provision for confidential access to mental health support.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Comprehensive mental health support is provided to the Armed Forces, including pre- and post-operational stress management training and a wide range of psychiatric and psychological treatments. We regularly review our mental healthcare services to ensure that they provide the best possible patient access and healthcare for Service personnel, responding to changes in local requirements.Following the major Defence Mental Healthcare Services Review in 2013, it was decided to reconfigure the services provided to improve the provision of care. Instead of focussing services on the Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs), we now have 20 permanent locations available for Service personnel requiring mental healthcare, made up of a mixture of 11 DCMHs, six Mental Health Teams (MHTs), and three locations with a permanent Community Mental Health Nurse. The review that initiated this change sought to ensure safe, equitable, quality provision, ensuring all patients access to confidential, professional mental healthcare services.More recently, in July 2017, we published the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy setting out measures we are taking to further improve the mental health of the Armed Forces and veterans. This includes developing innovative new partnerships with charities, such as that announced in October last year with the Royal Foundation, aimed at helping maintain and develop good mental fitness.And only last week the Secretary of State announced that we will be building on our existing partnership with Combat Stress to provide a new Ministry of Defence-funded 24/7 Military Mental Health Helpline for serving personnel, which will link into the existing services provided by Combat Stress for veterans and their families. We will also be providing an additional £2million of annual funding for military mental health services, on top of the £20million a year we already spend.

Ministry of Justice: Written Questions

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to respond to Question 117720, tabled by the right hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale on 5 December 2017.

Gavin Williamson: I have responded to the hon. Member today.

Ministry of Defence: Energy

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps the Government is taking to reduce energy costs across the defence estate.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Sustainable Ministry of Defence (MOD) Annual Report 2016-17, available at the link below, provides detailed information on how the Department is reducing energy costs across the estate:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/647627/Sustainable_MOD_lowres.pdfIn addition, the Department works with Crown Commercial Services to procure energy at competitive tariffs and exploit opportunities for local energy supply through power purchase agreements.

Ministry of Defence: Energy

Hannah Bardell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish a breakdown by site of energy costs across the defence estate.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: This information is not held in the format requested.

European Fighter Aircraft

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of F-35’s ready for operations.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of the UK F-35 fleet are (a) in the US and (b) operating out of UK bases.

Guto Bebb: The UK owns 14 F-35B Lightning aircraft which are all currently based in the US. A further three are due for delivery through the course of 2018.This summer 617 Squadron will stand up in the UK with nine front-line operational aircraft, and we plan to declare an Initial Operating Capability from land bases in December 2018.

European Fighter Aircraft

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many hours of flight time have been recorded by UK F-35’s (a) in total and (b) per plane.

Guto Bebb: The UK's current fleet of 14 F-35B Lightning aircraft has amassed a total of some 2,140 flying hours. This equates to an average of around 150 hours per aircraft; with a range of 12 flying hours to 555 flying hours depending on how long we have owned each individual aircraft.

HMS Ocean

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether (a) Phalanx CIWS and (b) light gun mounts on board HMS OCEAN will be donated to Queen Elizabeth class carriers or other Royal Navy vessels once that vessel is decommissioned.

Guto Bebb: The Phalanx Close-In Weapon System and light gun mounts, (which I have taken to refer to mini gun and general purpose machine gun mountings) on board HMS OCEAN will remain in the Ministry of Defence inventory to be allocated to Royal Navy ships as determined by operational requirements.

Ministry of Defence: Contracts

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what reviews of his Department's single source contract regulations have occurred since their introduction; and if he will make a statement.

Guto Bebb: I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Secretary of State for Defence on 14 December 2017 on the review of Single Source Contract Regulations (HCWS 351).The Department will be making a further statement on this shortly.



Single Source Procurement Legilslation: Review
(Word Document, 22.13 KB)

Type 23 Frigates

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average annual running cost is of a Type 23 frigate.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average annual running cost is of a Type 45 destroyer.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated average annual running cost is of a Type 31e frigate.

Guto Bebb: The average annual running cost for a Type 23 Frigate and a Type 45 Destroyer is approximately £11 million and £13.5 million respectively. These figures have been rounded to the nearest £100,000. The Type 31e programme is in its pre-procurement phase and it is therefore premature to provide an estimate of running costs.The costs given include those items that are directly attributable to the ship, such as personnel costs, fuel and port visits and do not include such items as maintenance, training and generation costs.

Navy

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the reason is for the cancellation of the (a) Royal Navy and Royal Marines monthly personnel statistics for 1 January 2018, 1 February 2018, 1 April 2018, and 1 May 2018 and (b) Royal Navy and Royal Marines quarterly pocket brief for 1 January 2018 and April 2018.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence held a public consultation regarding the cessation of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines monthly personnel statistics and the quarterly pocket brief from 21 April 2017 to 2 June 2017. This consultation was publicised in the Monthly Personnel Situation Report and Quarterly Pocket Brief. The consultation document, which contains the reasons for the cessation of the personnel statistics and the consultation outcome document can be found on the Gov.UK website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changes-to-ministry-of-defence-mod-personnel-statistics

Qatar: Hawk Aircraft

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will provide an update on progress on the potential order by Qatar of Hawk aircraft.

Guto Bebb: The Secretary of State for Defence recently discussed progress with his Qatari counterpart, during which they re-affirmed their desire to acquire Hawk aircraft. Discussions between HMG, the Qatari Government and BAE Systems are on-going.

Defence: Industry

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 24 of his Department's report, Industry for Defence and a Prosperous Britain: Refreshing Defence Industrial Policy 2017, when he plans to launch that consultation with industry.

Guto Bebb: We are already engaging with industry on the development of proportionate and relevant measures of sustainable social and economic value. This is being done through direct engagement in the Defence Suppliers Forum and the Defence Growth Partnership, as well as in the context of the National Shipbuilding Strategy and the recently announced Combat Air Strategy. We expect this to be a continuing process of engagement and we will broaden our consultation with companies of all sizes as this work takes further shape.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse is to date of the F-35 fighter.

Guto Bebb: Expenditure on the UK F-35 Lightning programme is published on gov.uk as part of the Government Major Projects Portfolio.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated cost of the F-35 fighter was when the Government placed its order for the aircraft.

Guto Bebb: When the Ministry of Defence placed its order for the procurement and support of 48 F-35 aircraft in 2001, the total approved budget for the UK F-35 programme was £9.1 billion out to 2026-27. The programme remains within its budget. F-35 aircraft are procured in lots, the costs of which are individually negotiated by the F-35 Joint Program Office on behalf of the partner nations. The UK's first aircraft was delivered in 2012 and the cost was $161 million. The Joint Program Office is continuing to drive down overall programme costs through improved effectiveness and efficiency, which is demonstrated by a 25% reduction in aircraft flyaway costs since 2012.

Ministry of Defence: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence non-departmental public bodies are: the Single Source Regulations Office, National Museum of the Royal Navy, National Army Museum, and Royal Air Force Museum. They are each responsible for their own recruitment. Over the last year they have used the following recruitment agencies:Right ManagementAdecco UKBlue Arrow,CMA,Office AngelsHaysOdgers BerndsonGatenby SandersonGemini PeopleMichael PageJMALiberty ResourcingAllen Lane

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will place her Department’s guidance to JobCentre Plus staff on advising benefit claimants whether to claim for universal credit in areas where its roll-out has not yet been made compulsory in the Library.

Alok Sharma: There is no legal basis for moving people onto Universal Credit in areas where roll out is yet to take place, and so there is no guidance to staff on giving advice to claimants in these circumstances.

Universal Credit: Lancashire

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) universal credit claimants who have lost benefit income as a result of benefit migration and (b) single parents who have lost benefit income as a result of universal credit in areas of Lancashire where its roll-out has not yet been made compulsory.

Alok Sharma: Data is not available that distinguishes these cases from other new claims to Universal Credit. Currently, claimants moving from existing benefits to Universal Credit will only do so because they will have had a change in their circumstances that would previously, under the legacy system, have triggered a new claim to benefits or tax credits. Entitlement would have been calculated based on the rules of their new benefit, taking in to account their new circumstances.

Personal Independence Payment: Inverclyde

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in the Inverclyde constituency will have their personal independence payment claim reviewed by the Government.

Sarah Newton: I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made by myself, Official Report, 30 January 2018, Column 703.

Personal Independence Payment: Multiple Sclerosis and Neurology

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the level of knowledge of (a) multiple sclerosis and (b) neurological conditions among personal independence payment assessors; and what steps her Department is taking to improve the knowledge of those conditions and their symptoms among such assessors.

Sarah Newton: The objective of the PIP assessment is to assess the impact that health conditions and impairments can have on an individual’s daily life. The PIP assessment is not a medical assessment requiring the Health Care Professional to diagnose a condition or to recommend treatment options. All Health Care Professionals complete initial and ongoing training on neurological conditions and multiple sclerosis. They also practise several clinical scenarios involving neurological conditions and multiple sclerosis as part of that training. Health Professionals have access to a range of resources as well as experienced clinicians to support them in assessing claimants with complex conditions. In addition, Assessment Providers frequently engage with medical experts, charities and relevant stakeholders to strengthen, review and update their training programmes.

Universities Superannuation Scheme

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will ask the Pensions Regulator to extend negotiations on the universities superannuation scheme.

Guy Opperman: Any changes which might be made to this scheme are a matter for the Joint Negotiation Committee of the scheme, not the Government. The independent Pensions Regulator remains in ongoing discussions with USS’s stakeholders.

Universal Credit: Loans

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a national interest-free credit scheme to provide universal credit claimants with short-term loans to obtain household essentials.

Alok Sharma: DWP already has a well-established system of interest-free support available for people in need. Advances are available, where claimants can receive up to 100% of their indicative award at the start of their claim. Budgeting advances, which are designed to cover unexpected household expenses, are also available for claimants who have been in receipt of Universal Credit for six months.

Long Term Unemployed People: Mental Health

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of long-term unemployment on the mental health needs of claimants.

Sarah Newton: We know that the longer a working age person is out of work, the more difficult it is for them to return to work and their health and wellbeing may worsen as a result, which is why improving employment support for people with mental health issues is a key priority for this Government.The Command Paper Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability, published in November 2017, outlines actions to improve out of work support, including:Investment in trials, proofs of concept and feasibility studies to test ways to provide specialist support for people with mental health conditions;Doubling the number of employment advisers working in NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services by over 300 by 2019, enabling greater provision of integrated psychological treatment and employment support;Enhancing mental health training for Jobcentre work coaches;Supporting NHS plans to increase access to the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model – a model of integrated employment support within secondary mental health care services.

Personal Independence Payment: Mental Health

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to ensure that the Government’s planned review of personal independence payments resulting from the High Court judgment on the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 does not result in anyone receiving a reduction in those payments.

Sarah Newton: I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made by myself, Official Report, 30 January 2018, Column 703. This review will not lead to reduced awards as a result of applying the MH judgment.

Personal Independence Payment: Garston and Halewood

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 19 January 2018, HCWS414, on welfare, if she will provide a timescale for the reimbursement of backdated payments for claimants with evidence of psychological distress in Garston and Halewood constituency who have been refused the motability component of the personal independence payment.

Sarah Newton: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 February 2018 to Question UIN 125608.

Personal Independence Payment: Garston and Halewood

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants in Garston and Halewood constituency with evidence of psychological distress have been refused the motability component of the personal independence payment in each year since its introduction.

Sarah Newton: The Department does not hold this information. It could only be determined by examining individual cases, as outlined in the statement made by myself, Official Report, 30 January 2018, Column 703.

Universal Credit: Housing

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if the Department will include universal credit in the calculation of funding to local authorities for Discretionary Housing Payments; and whether additional DHP funding will be allocated to those Councils most affected by universal credit.

Kit Malthouse: The methodologies used to allocate Discretionary Housing Payment funding is reviewed annually to ensure a fair and equitable distribution across all English and Welsh local authorities. The methodologies take account of claimants in receipt of both Universal Credit and Housing Benefit ensuring that those local authorities with larger Universal Credit caseloads continue to receive a fair allocation of Discretionary Housing Payment funding.

Department for Work and Pensions: Staff

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of the non-payroll staff in her Department's workforce can be fairly described as being in business on their own account.

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department decides the schedule of working hours for non-payroll staff.

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department determines where non-payroll staff work.

Kit Malthouse: We understand this question to refers to the IR35 status of our contractors. As at 31st January 2018, the Department had 455 contractors. Of these, we have classified 22 as In-Scope of IR35 and 433 Out of scope of IR35.  The Department engages and deploys its contractors to meet a wide range of requirements to support our activities. Each engagement is unique to the particular requirements of our business, in order that the deliverables required can be met. Dependent on the requirement, the Department may specify the working hours of its contractors. This will be detailed in advance, so that the contractor understands the engagement before accepting it, and will match the specific business needs of the Department’s requirements. This is one of the many factors that can influence the IR35 status of an engagement which we specify up front, along with control and direction, financial risk and whether a personal service is required.

Department for Work and Pensions: ICT

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department's computers were compromised and inaccessible for staff in the week of (a) 5 February and (b) 12 February; and what contingency plans her Department has put in place to ensure the security of claimants' data on her Department's computers.

Kit Malthouse: During the weeks in question there were a variety of outages of the Department’s computer systems. There were differing causes, but none were security related. All were resolved. DWP has comprehensive security measures in place to protect the information that we hold and to ensure claimants’ interests are protected.

Social Security Benefits: Immigrants

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department’s policy is on benefit entitlement for people who have lived in the UK for 10 or more years with indefinite leave to remain but do not have a biometric residency permit and cannot afford the fee.

Alok Sharma: Access to income-related benefits is conditional upon satisfying a Habitual Residence Test (HRT) where claimants must provide proof of their nationality and immigration status; their employment (where appropriate) and habitual residence in the UK. Non-UK nationals who are granted leave to remain in the UK with the right to claim public funds must also satisfy the eligibility conditions of the benefit they are seeking to claim. Procedures are in place for DWP to seek verification from the Home Office if claimants are unable to provide proof of their nationality and immigration status.

Social Security Benefits: Children

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government plans to exclude children's benefits including child benefit and the child element of universal credit from the scope of the benefit cap.

Kit Malthouse: The exclusion of child related benefits would undermine one of the key drivers for introducing the benefit cap that ultimately, there has to be a limit to the overall amount of financial support that households in receipt of out of work benefits can expect to receive in welfare payments. Child related benefits including Child Benefit, like other welfare benefits, are provided by the state and funded by tax payers. The Government believes it is right that it is taken into account along with other state benefits when applying the cap.

Public Sector: Pay

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the effect of the public sector pay cap on child poverty in (a) Newcastle, (b) the North East and (c) the UK since the imposition of that cap.

Kit Malthouse: Wider social and economic factors make it impossible to isolate, with any certainty, the impacts of the public sector pay cap on the rates of children in low income. This is particularly the case when isolating these impacts at a regional and constituency level. Latest estimates for children in low income in the UK and latest 3 year estimates for children in low income in the North East region are available in the Households below average income publication. Data is not available below regional level in this publication because the survey sample sizes are too small to support the production of robust estimates at this geography. From this publication the absolute low income measure tracks low incomes against a threshold which moves with the rate of inflation. In 2015/16, the number of children living in absolute low income (before housing costs) has fallen by 2 percentage points since 2009/10. In the 3 years to 2015/16, the rate of children living in absolute low income (before housing costs) in the North East region has fallen by 7 percentage points, compared to the 3 years to 2009/10. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/599136/hbai-2015-2016-supporting-ods-files.zip

Mortgages: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of support for mortgage interest resident in (a) the West Midlands region and (b) Coventry have applied for a loan under the loan scheme scheduled to begin on 6 April 2018.

Kit Malthouse: Figures for Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loan applications by region are not available.

Health and Safety Laboratory

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding her Department has allocated to the Health and Safety Laboratory in each of the last five years.

Sarah Newton: Prior to April 2015 the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) operated as an in-house agency of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). It received funding of £28.8 million in 2012/13, £28.2 million in 2013/14 and £26.2 million in 2014/15. In April 2015 HSL was integrated as a major part of HSE’s Science Division. To deliver its strategic objectives, HSE allocates its resources across its divisions. The Science Division (SD) received £32.1 million in 2015/16. In 2016/17 it received £16.0 million which excludes the cost of IT and estates. These were previously managed by SD but are now managed centrally by HSE.

Health and Safety Laboratory: Contracts

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much revenue the Health and Safety Laboratory generated from external contracts in each of the last five years.

Sarah Newton: The Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL), operated as an in-house agency of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) until it was integrated as a major part of HSE’s Science Division in April 2015. The following table shows the level of revenue Science Division generated from external contracts in each of the last five years: Financial yearCommercial income  £m2016/1713.62015/1612.92014/1512.92013/1410.22012/138.7

Health and Safety Laboratory: Profits

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the level of profit earned by the Health and Safety Laboratory in each of the last five years.

Sarah Newton: The Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL), operated as an in-house agency of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) until it was integrated as a major part of HSE’s Science Division in April 2015. The Science Division does not make a profit. The primary objective is to undertake research and investigations on HSE’s behalf. Revenue is generated through the provision of workplace health and safety research, training and consultancy in order to maintain capability and reduce dependency on taxpayer funding. In line with HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money, all such work is charged on a full cost recovery basis. Revenue generated contributes to the total running cost of HSE.

Health and Safety Laboratory: Contracts

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of the funding allocated to the Health and Safety Laboratory on the ability of private sector companies to compete for contracts.

Sarah Newton: The Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL), operated as an in-house agency of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) until it was integrated as a major part of HSE’s Science Division in April 2015. Most of the commercial work HSE undertakes is through the process of bidding for the work alongside any competitors. All work won through a bidding process is subject to 'Fair and Open Competition'. In addition, goods and services offered to the market such as training courses, are competing alongside any other providers. Funding allocated by DWP is not used to subsidise Science Division's commercial activities which recover their full economic cost.

Attendance Allowance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of pensioners received the (a) lower and (b) higher rate of attendance allowance in each of the last seven years.

Sarah Newton: Information on the number and proportion of Attendance Allowance claimants receiving the lower and higher rate in each of the last seven years is contained in the table below:  Lower rateHigher rate numberpercentagenumberpercentage2011687,20643%913,65457%2012662,19143%893,92257%2013630,26442%867,05658%2014601,73941%854,64759%2015585,39540%873,37260%2016565,83339%881,66461%2017549,50738%886,09762% Note: number of claimants as at August in each year and relates to claimants receiving a payment  This information is published and available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk Guidance for users is available at: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

State Retirement Pensions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the real term value of the state pension in each of the last 10 years.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Work and Pensions annually publishes statistics on benefits information in the Abstract of Statistics publication on the gov.uk website. The latest release is the Abstract of Statistics 2017 which can be found at the following URL and contains the information that you require in table 2.1a. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/abstract-of-statistics-2017

Poverty

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in the (a) 16-24 and (b) 65 and over age bands were living in relative poverty in each of the last 10 years.

Kit Malthouse: National statistics on the number of individuals in relative low income, by age bracket, are set out in the annual "Households Below Average Income" publication. These estimates are publicly available in the links provided for the last 10 years: 2015/16: (see files “5_workingage_risk.ods”, tab 5.8db and files “6_pensioners_risk.ods”, tab 6.5db)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/599136/hbai-2015-2016-supporting-ods-files.zip2014/15: (see files “5_workingage_risk.ods”, tab 5.8db and files “6_pensioners_risk.ods”, tab 6.5db)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/532118/hbai-2014-2015-supporting-ods-files.zip2013/14: (see files “5_workingage_risk.xls”, tab 5.8db and files “6_pensioners_risk.xls”, tab 6.5db)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/437253/hbai-2013-2014-supporting-excel-files.zip2012/13: (see files “chapter_5_risk_hbai14.xls”, tab 5.8db and files “chapter_6_risk_hbai14.xls”, tab 6.5db)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/325422/hbai-2012-2013-supporting-excel-files.zip2011/12: (see tab 5.8db in the first link and tab 6.5db in the second link)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/206818/chapter_5_risk_hbai13.xlshttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/206826/chapter_6_risk_hbai13.xls2010/11: (see tab 5.8db in the first link and tab 6.5db in the second link)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/200756/chapter_5_risk_hbai12.xlshttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/200764/chapter_6_risk_hbai12.xls2009/10: (see attachments “chapter_5_risk_hbai11.xls”, tab 5.8db and attachment “chapter_6_risk_hbai11.xls”, tab 6.5db)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211950/full_hbai11.pdf2008/09: (see attachments “chapter_5_risk_hbai10.xls”, tab 5.8db and attachment “chapter_6_risk_hbai10.xls”, tab 6.5db)https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/211979/full_hbai10.pdf2007/08: (see table 5.8, page 112 and table 6.5, page 140)http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130404002441/http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/hbai2008/pdf_files/full_hbai09.pdf2006/07: (see table 5.8, page 112 and table 6.5, page 140)http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130404002205/http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai/hbai2007/pdf_files/full_hbai08.pdf

Universal Credit: Children

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of two year olds that will be in families in receipt of universal credit when that benefit is fully rolled out.

Alok Sharma: The number of two year olds that will be in families in receipt of Universal Credit when that benefit is fully rolled out is estimated at 440,000 (rounded to the nearest 10,000).

Disability: Employment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the population who have access to tailored employment advice support for people who are disabled due to a mental health condition.

Sarah Newton: Specialist advice and employment support for people with mental health conditions is available for all.The roll out of the Health and Work Conversation across the UK supports work coaches to continue to build engagement with claimants with disabilities and health issues, backed by comprehensive new training which builds skills of empathy and active listening. We have also recruited new disability employment advisers and community partners who are in place in every country and region of the UK.In addition, all work coaches across the Jobcentre Plus network receive training on supporting people with health conditions and disabilities and we have developed an enhanced mental health training programme for staff, which is now available in every country and region across the UK.We expect that a large number of the claimants that require additional support through the Work and Health Programme, which will be in place across all areas of England and Wales by March 2018, will be people with mental health conditions. Support on the programme will be personalised to the needs of each participant. Examples of the type of support available includes participants having a personal key worker with regular face to face contact, mentoring and peer support, integrated access to specialist support networks at a local level including health and wellbeing professionals.Anyone with a mental health condition which affects the way they do their job can apply for support from the Access to Work Mental Health Support Service. This service helps people by providing telephone and online advice and support. Last year, over 1,800 people whose primary condition was recorded as a mental health condition were approved provision from Access to Work – a record number and a 37% increase compared to the previous year.

Universal Credit: Payments

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the decision was taken to pay universal credit claims to a single bank account in a household.

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the evidential basis was for the decision to pay couples claiming universal credit in a single payment.

Alok Sharma: When couples make a joint claim to Universal Credit, both are responsible for servicing the claim, and both benefit from the claim. A single payment of Universal Credit enables a household to clearly see the effect of their decisions about work on total household income. The Government believes that people within a household are best placed to make the money management choices that are most appropriate for them and a single payment enables them to do just that. Additionally, Universal Credit is designed to mirror work so that when claimants enter work there are only a minimal number of changes for claimants to undergo. As employers pay employees and do not divide salary payments amongst households, the UC payment arrangements mirror that. Research carried out for the Department for Work and Pensions suggest that only 2 per cent of married couples and 7 per cent of cohabiting couples keep their finances completely separate, so these arrangements fit with how the majority of people organise their lives. In exceptional circumstances, if a couple do not agree on an account into which their Universal Credit is to be paid, a decision maker in the Department will nominate a person in the household. This is to ensure protection for the welfare of the family.

Department for Work and Pensions: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Guy Opperman: The information requested is in the table below:Recruitment AgencyUsed By AdeccoThe Pensions OmbudsmanAshe ConsultingThe Pensions OmbudsmanBadenock and ClarkThe Pensions RegulatorCapita (CL One Framework)The Pensions RegulatorDGH RecruitmentThe Pensions RegulatorDrew ChapmanThe Pensions OmbudsmanForeman ITThe Pensions RegulatorHaysThe Pensions Advisory Service The Pensions Ombudsman The Pensions RegulatorHayes ExecutiveHealth & Safety ExecutiveIRG Advisors LLP (t/a Odgers Berndtson)The Pensions RegulatorMethods ConsultingHealth & Safety ExecutiveMichael Page RecruitmentHealth & Safety Executive The Pensions Advisory Service The Pensions RegulatorOffice AngelsThe Pensions OmbudsmanPeople Source Ltd (Experis)Health & Safety Executive The Pensions RegulatorRBW ConsultingThe Pensions RegulatorReed Business SupportHealth & Safety Executive The Pensions Advisory ServiceReed EmploymentThe Pensions RegulatorReed TechnologyHealth & Safety ExecutiveROC SearchHealth & Safety ExecutiveSammonds PensionsThe Pensions Advisory Service The Pensions OmbudsmanSearchThe Pensions RegulatorTateThe Pensions Regulator

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Business: Pollution Control

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to mitigate the costs to business of the implementation of the EU Medium Combustion Plant Directive.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Under the Medium Combustion Plant Directive, businesses are able to plan ahead, as existing plants benefit from later dates for compliance with emission limit values, to 2025 or 2030 depending on their size.

Plastics: Bottles

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that fewer plastic bottles (a) are incinerated, (b) go to landfill and (c) littered on land or at sea.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: As part of the Litter Strategy for England, the Government has established the independent Voluntary and Economic Incentives working group. In autumn last year this working group held a call for evidence on measures to reduce littering of drinks containers and promote recycling. This included seeking evidence on the costs, benefits and impacts of deposit and reward and return schemes. The working group analysed responses to this call for evidence and provided advice to Ministers on potential incentives for drinks containers, including plastic bottles this month., Ministers are now considering the working group’s report. The Waste and Resources Action Programme and industry led Consistency Framework has a vision that all households in England are able to recycle the same core set of materials, including plastic bottles. The waste hierarchy places prevention at the top as it offers the best outcome for the environment, followed by preparing for reuse, recycling, other recovery (which includes energy from waste, via incineration) and then disposal. Landfill should only be considered as a last resort. The Litter Strategy sets out our aim to clean up the country and deliver a substantial reduction in litter and littering within a generation. The Litter Strategy brings together communities, businesses, charities and schools to bring about real change by focusing on three key themes: education and awareness, improving enforcement, and better cleaning and access to bins. A copy of the Litter Strategy can be found at www.gov.uk/government/publications/litter-strategy-for-england. As marine litter is a transboundary problem we work with other countries to address it, particularly through the Oslo and Paris Conventions for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, G7, G20 and the UN Environment Programme.

Plastics: Packaging

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to incentivise producers of packaging to use recycled plastic in their products.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will give the Environment Agency regulatory control over how the revenue from Packaging Recovery Notes is spent.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The UK’s Packaging Waste Regulations impose obligations on large producers to fund the recycling of a proportion of the packaging waste that arises in line with their market share. We have made great progress in boosting recycling rates and making more products recyclable – including doubling the recycling of plastic packaging waste over the last thirteen years – but there is still much more to be done. Tackling waste, especially waste plastic, is a key priority for the Government. The Clean Growth Strategy, published on 12 October 2017, commits us to move towards zero avoidable waste by 2050 and announced that we are exploring changes to the packaging producer responsibility scheme. This will look at all aspects of the regime, including mechanisms to incentivise better design, encourage the use of recycled material and provide greater transparency for producer funding. More detail will be announced in the Resources and Waste Strategy, which will be published later this year.

Air Pollution: Monitoring

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve measurement of PM2.5 particles across the UK.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department will work with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government to provide guidance to local councils on ensuring air quality monitors record fine particulate matter, PM2.5.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Assessment of PM2.5 levels in the UK uses direct monitoring alongside air quality modelling. We have a network comprising 163 direct monitoring sites providing near-real-time data to our UK-AIR website: https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk. Of these, 77 monitor PM2.5. Modelling of PM2.5 is reviewed regularly to take account of changes in sources of emissions to ensure accurate measurement. Defra provides technical and policy guidance to local authorities to assist them in meeting their air quality management responsibilities including air quality monitoring and assessment. Defra also provides technical support to local authorities via a dedicated local air quality management Helpdesk (phone, email and webpage).

Air Pollution: Monitoring

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to extend the air pollution alert system to ensure that notifications about high pollution levels are disseminated as widely as possible.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Stockton North on 12 February 2018, PQ 126644 and 126645.

Crimes of Violence: Rural Areas

Dame Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent representations his Department has received on (a) violent threats and (b) demands made by gangs of tarmac workers to (i) farmers and (ii) rural landowners.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra officials have had recent meetings with the NFU, the National Rural Crime Network and the National Police Chiefs’ Council, to discuss crimes occurring in the countryside, including hare coursing, fly-tipping and theft from farms. Incidences of criminal activity and threatening behaviour affecting farmers and rural landowners are a matter for the police.

Electronic Equipment: Waste Disposal

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to comply with the Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment Regulations and to reduce the wastage of goods.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The UK continues to meet all obligations arising from the European Union Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive. In 2016, producers financed over 580,000 tonnes of household electrical waste recycling and re-use, an increase of over 20% since 2013, when revised regulations were introduced. The 2017 figures have not been published. The Government published its 25 Year Environment Plan on 11 January. This includes a commitment to publish a new Resources and Waste Strategy later this year. As part of that strategy, we will also explore how we can provide greater incentives to producers to manage resources more efficiently through a review of Extended Producer Responsibility, including a review of the existing schemes.

Plastics

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has a target for the reduction of single use plastics.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: This Government is a world leader in tackling plastic waste, not only banning microbeads, but also taking 9 billion plastic bags out of circulation with our 5p carrier bag charge. On 11 January we published our 25 Year Environment Plan that stated our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042 and, in particular, the waste from single-use plastics. The steps we will be taking to do this include exploring the introduction of plastic-free aisles by retailers; exploring how we can develop our producer responsibility schemes to give producers more incentives to design more resource efficient products; and extending the carrier bag charge to small retailers. In the 25 Year Environment Plan the Government also announced a plan to remove all consumer single use plastics from the central government estate offices. Defra Group are carrying out a full analysis of single use plastic through our supply chain and setting a requirement that new catering services exclude all consumer single use plastics. We work closely with other government departments and their agencies through the Greening Government Commitments to reduce their impacts on the environment. In autumn 2017 an independent working group set up under the Litter Strategy for England held a call for evidence on measures to reduce littering of drinks containers and promote recycling. This included seeking evidence on the costs, benefits and impacts of deposit return schemes. Ministers are now considering the working group’s report.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Litter

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which Ministers of his Department have taken part in (a) beach cleans and (b) other activities to remove plastic and other litter from the environment since June 2015; and what steps he is taking to enable officials of his Department to take part in such activities.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: We are supportive of initiatives that seek to encourage the clean-up of both land and sea. Ministers and officials have carried out litter-picks as part of Clean for the Queen in 2016 and the Great British Spring Clean, the Big Spring Beach Clean and the Great British Beach Clean in 2017. Ministers also participate in local beach cleans and litter-picks taking place in their own constituencies, and all staff are encouraged to take part in litter-picks in their local areas. Staff are also allocated volunteer days which they can use for similar activities.

Hunting

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the article on the Puckeridge Hunt in the Hertordshire Mercury published on 8 February 2018, whether he will (a) make an assessment of the risks of laying scent trails and (b) make and assessment of the potential merits of banning the laying of scent trails.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the risks posed by hunting hounds using scents laid by trail hunts drifting across the transport network.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Hunting Act 2004 came into effect on 18 February 2005 and bans all hunting of wild mammals with dogs in England and Wales, except where it is carried out in accordance with the exemptions set out in Schedule 1 to the Act. Many hunts have since turned to trail hunting as an alternative to live quarry hunting. The Government neither has plans to assess the risk of laying scent trails nor to assess the merits of banning the laying of scent trails. There are also no plans to assess the risks posed by hunting hounds using scents laid by trail hunts drifting across the transport network.

Home Office

Airguns

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to reduce the number of cats (a) killed and (b) left with life-changing injuries due to being shot by air guns; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: We are reviewing the regulation of air weapons in England and Wales, and requested the views of interested parties by 6 February 2018. The review is looking at issues such as manufacturing standards, secure storage and whether current arrangements are sufficient to prevent children gaining access to air weapons, as well as licensing arrangements in Scotland and Northern Ireland.We are taking into account representations put forward by animal welfare organisations as part of the review. The Department has received a large number of representations on these topics, and we are considering them carefully before deciding how to proceed. We will publish the outcome of the review in due course.

Public Sector: Contracts

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to require companies delivering public services through outsourced public contracts to pay all staff delivering such services (a) the national living wage irrespective of age or (b) the real living wage for 2018 as formulated by the Living Wage Foundation, of £8.75 UK rate and £10.20 London rate.

Victoria Atkins: Home Office requires all of its suppliers to comply with the legal minimum standards of pay as set out in the Government’s National Living Wage legislation.

Home Office: Contracts

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to require in respect of her Department's outsourced public contracts (a) to publish the profit margin or (b) the permissible profit margin range that is agreed with the companies for such contracts.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office does not plan to require the profit margin or permissible (if any) profit margin range to be published for outsourced public contracts as this information is commercially sensitive.

Home Office: Contracts

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to publish the key performance indicators used for contract and performance management purposes in respect of her Department's outsourced public contracts.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office publishes details of contracts and that may include the key performance indicators used for contract performance management purposes via Contracts Finder https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

Home Office: Contracts

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will list (a) what outsourced public contracts she has awarded over a total contract value of £5 million and (b) to which company; and if she will publish each contract pursuant to those awards.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office has since 2010, published details of its contracts over 10K on the Pan-Gov’t Contracts Finder portal, as part of the HMT Transparency Agenda.The link to the portal is as follows: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

Females: Domestic Violence

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department , what steps the Government is taking to protect women who are experiencing domestic abuse online.

Victoria Atkins: The law is clear that what is illegal off-line is also illegal on-line. Robust legislation is in place to deal with domestic abuse online, as well as internet trolls, cyber-stalking and harassment, and perpetrators of grossly offensive, obscene or menacing behaviour. We have committed to strengthening our response to domestic abuse through the publication of a draft Domestic Abuse Bill, and we are working with partners across Government on our domestic abuse consultation to ensure it is as robust and thorough as possible. The consultation will be launched shortly. Through the Tampon Tax Fund, we are providing funding £250,000 to Refuge to launch a programme aimed at protecting and empowering women against the abuse of modern technology. In addition, as part of the work on the Digital Charter announced in the Queen's Speech, the Government is considering a range of options to counter internet harms more broadly. This includes an Internet Safety Strategy, published on 11 October, which looks at how we can support users so that everyone can access the benefits of the internet safely. As part of the Internet Safety work, the Digital Economy Act requires Government to introduce a voluntary code of practice for social media companies. The code will set out guidance about what social media providers should do in relation to conduct on their platforms and involves bullying or insulting an individual or other behaviour likely to intimidate or humiliate them. In addition, on the anniversary of female suffrage on 6 February the Prime Minister announced that the Law Commission will conduct a review of offensive communications legislation.

Emergency Services Network: North Ayrshire and Arran

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the (a) number and (b) location of new mobile sites under the Emergency Services Network contract that will be constructed in North Ayrshire and Arran constituency; how many of those sites have gained planning approval; how many sites in that same area have entered the build phase; how many sites in that same area were live as of 1 February 2018; how many sites in that same area are being built with the capacity for multi-occupancy; and how many sites in that same area have a confirmed second tenant.

Mr Nick Hurd: I can confirm there will be 3 new EE sites and 5 Extended Area Service (EAS) sites located in the constituency of North Ayrshire and Arran.All new EE sites are being built and delivered to agreed Home Office timeframes and where possible will go live earlier to support commercial coverage. All 3 new sites in North Ayrshire and Arran have planning permission. None of the three new sites are commercially available at present.In respect of EAS sites I can confirm that there are currently 5 sites proposed on Arran and 1 has planning permission approved (or 1 HoTs signed – as none have yet entered the build phase).Of the c.500 new sites EE is building, 291 will transfer over to the Home Office at the end of the contract term. EE is making available details of all shareable new sites to other mobile network operators proactively both directly and through an existing website used by the industry to arrange site sharing. EE has made available the details of 350 sites. EE is confident that the 291 sites which will transfer to the Home Office will be selected from this portfolio, and the Home Office and EE have now agreed 104 of these sites (and are working on confirming on which of the remainder will make up the rest of the 291). These will be shareable in accordance with the terms of the EC Decision in relation to State aid for this Programme.Separately the Home Office, through the EAS project, are delivering circa 292 individual sites. I would also like to reassure you that the Home Office has been proactive in seeking to build masts that support multi-operator use where practicable.Finally I thought it helpful to remind you that the Emergency Services Network is designed to, first and foremost, deliver a ‘blue-light’ communications service.

Retail Trade: Crime

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of retail crime to the UK economy in 2017; and what steps her Department is taking to tackle retail crime.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government recognises the impact that retail crime has on businesses. The British Retail Consortium, for example, estimated that the direct financial cost of crime to the UK retail industry was £660 million in 2015-16. We do not yet have data for the estimated cost of retail crime to the UK retail industry in 2017.We work closely with the retail sector through the National Retail Crime Steering Group, which brings together representatives from industry, Government and the Police. This includes the British Retail Consortium and the Association of Convenience Stores to understand better the crime issues that affect the sector and how we can best work together to prevent and respond to these crimes.

Organised Crime: Jamaica

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total budget for Operation Kingfisher is for the current financial year; and what proportion of that budget has been spent to date.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold details of the budget for Operation Kingfisher. Decisions on the resourcing of specific operations are a matter for Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables.The Police and Crime Commissioner regularly publishes the costs of Operation Kingfisher for 2017/18 on her website.

Home Office: Contracts

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has (a) contributed to any Cabinet Office-led commercial capability reviews to enhance her Department’s commercial expertise and contract management practices and (b) produced a capability blueprint as requested by the Cabinet Office relating to commercial expertise and contract management of outsourced public contracts since 2014-15.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office did contribute to the Cabinet Office led commercial capability review and has completed all resulting recommendations. The department also produced the annual commercial capability blueprint which commenced in 2016/17.

Crime: Motorcycles

Sir Henry Bellingham: What steps she is taking to reduce moped crime.

Victoria Atkins: The Government is working with the police, industry, and other partners to understand better the drivers of moped crime and how best to prevent them. This work sits alongside the review the Government is conducting into the law, guidance and practice surrounding police pursuits and response driving.

Key Forensic Services: Insolvency

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the total value of monetary support that the police has provided to Key Forensics Services to enable it to finish processing outstanding cases.

Mr Nick Hurd: I welcome the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s and Association of Police and Crime Commissioner’s swift action to minimise the impact on the criminal justice system and protect evidence for live cases. The financial arrangements are a commercial matter for the police and the company, to enable the company to pay their staff to finish processing outstanding cases.

Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the reasons for the Office of the Immigration Service Commission having only 4 out of 224 prosecutions leading to a fine and a single conditional discharge in 2016-17; and what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of that Office in regard to prosecutions.

Caroline Nokes: The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) secured 16 prosecutions in the reporting year 2016/17. They were disposed by way of four immediate custodial sentences, four suspended prison sentences, two community punishment orders, four fines and one conditional discharge. (One offender failed to appear at Crown Court for sentencing following conviction resulting in an arrest warrant being issued.)The 224 prosecutions to which you refer have been secured by the OISC since they became fully operational in 2001. The full breakdown of the sentences handed down in these cases by the Tribunal is available in their published annual reports and accounts, which can be viewed on the OISC’s website https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-the-immigration-services-commissioner.The OISC’s overall performance, including on prosecutions, is reviewed on a regular basis by the Home Office.

Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the reasons for the Office of the Immigration Service Commission paying only 57 per cent of undisputed invoices within five days in 2016-17; and what assessment she has made of the performance of that commission in respect of that target.

Caroline Nokes: Office of Immigration Services Commissioner’s (OISC) reason for not achieving this target is set out on page 39 of their published annual report and accounts for 2016/17.The performance of the OISC is reviewed regularly. The Home Office notes in particular the OISC’s commitment to pay invoices quickly and that 100% of undisputed invoices are paid within 30 days of receipt.

Police: Vacancies

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to introduce the national action plan to tackle the shortage of detectives recommended by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in its report Police Effectiveness 2016.

Mr Nick Hurd: Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services’s (HMICFRS’s) recommendations are primarily for police leaders to take action and ensure progress is made. In its 2016 Effectiveness report, published on 2 March 2017, HMIC (as it was then named) called on the National Police Chiefs’ Council, working with the College of Policing, to review by June 2017 what is being done to tackle concerns over the number of police detectives. HMIC recommended that these bodies should put in place a national action plan by December 2017.We welcome the work done by Chief Constable Matt Jukes on behalf of NPCC to improve analysis of the nature and scale of the reported shortages of investigators and to form an action plan.HMICFRS continue to monitor forces’ progress though their Effectiveness inspection programme and their next report will be published shortly.

Motor Vehicles: Theft

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the amount of money motorists have paid in recovery and storage charges to recover their stolen vehicles (a) in total and (b) by region in each year since 2010.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police forces do not charge victims of vehicle theft to retrieve their stolen vehicles.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of motorists who have paid recovery and storage charges to retrieve their stolen vehicles by region in each year since 2010.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the statutory fee is for the recovery and storage of stolen vehicles; and when that fee was last reviewed.

Mr Nick Hurd: Statutorily prescribed charges for the recovery and storage of stolen vehicles are set out in the Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles (Prescribed Sums and Charges) Regulations 2008. The current table of charges set in 2008 is shown below. Data on the number of motorists charged and the amounts paid is not routinely collected by the Home Office.  TABLES OF CHARGESAs set in the Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles (Prescribed Sums and Charges) Regulations 2008  Removals 123451Vehicle position and conditionVehicle equal to or less than 3.5 tonnes Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM)Vehicle exceeding 3.5 tonnes MAM but equal to or less than 7.5 tonnesVehicle exceeding 7.5 tonnes MAM but equal to or less than 18 MAMVehicle exceeding 18 tonnes MAM2Vehicle on road, upright and not substantially damaged or any two wheeled vehicle whatever its condition or position on or off the road£150£200£350£3503Vehicle, excluding a two wheeled vehicle, on road but either not upright or substantially damaged or both£250£650Unladen-£2000Unladen-£3000Laden-£3000Laden-£45004Vehicle, excluding a two wheeled vehicle, off road, upright and not substantially damaged£200£400Unladen-£1000Unladen-£1500Laden-£1500Laden-£20005Vehicle, excluding a two wheeled vehicle, off road but either not upright or substantially damaged or both£300£850Unladen-£3000Unladen-£4500Laden-£4500Laden-£6000 Storage (for each period of 24 hours or part thereof) 123451Two wheeled vehicleVehicle, not including a two wheeled vehicle, equal to or less than 3.5 tonnes MAMVehicle exceeding 3.5 tonnes MAM but equal to or less than 7.5 tonnes MAMVehicle exceeding 7.5 tonnes MAM but equal to or less than 18 MAMVehicle exceeding 18 tonnes MAM2£10£20£25£30£35

Road Traffic Offences: Police

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 8123, for what reason the response took five months to be made.

Mr Nick Hurd: An administrative error was the reason for the delay. We are confident this is not a widespread problem.

Engineers and Scientists: Visas

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer to Question 124824 of 20 February 2018, on Engineers and Scientists: visas and with reference to the Answer to Question 9220 of 21 September 2015, on the same topic, when her Department ceased to publish these statistics.

Caroline Nokes: The Department has not ceased to publish this information. The specific information requested has not previously been included in any official statistics published by the Home Office.

Crimes of Violence: Members

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many threats of violence towards hon. Members have been reported in each month since June 2016.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of actual violence towards hon. Members have been reported in each month since June 2016.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of threatening or aggressive behaviour towards hon. Members have been reported in each month since June 2016.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold the requested data centrally. The Home Office collects data on the number of crimes recorded by the Police in England and Wales. It is not possible to identify from these data whether violent offences have involved Members of Parliament.

Emergency Calls

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to allow callers contacting 999 control rooms to use the what3words geocoding addressing system to provide more precise location data for emergency services.

Mr Nick Hurd: The handling of 999 calls is an operational matter for the Police and Fire Service. It is for elected Police and Crime Commissioners, Chief Constables and Chief Fire Constables to decide how their service resources are deployed and how best to manage their communications with the public.

Passports: Republic of Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of opening a Passport Office in Dublin better to facilitate responses to the high level of demand for British Passports from people who live in the Irish Republic.

Caroline Nokes: Overseas applications were previously processed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from ‘offshore’ locations, including an office in Dublin. Application processing was repatriated to the UK in 2014, which included the closure of the Dublin office, and resulted in substantial savings.The department has not re-considered this decision since 2014.

*No heading*

David Hanson: What discussions she has had with Police and Crime Commissioners on the level of the police precept for 2018-19.

Mr Nick Hurd: Before the police funding settlement, I spoke and received written submissions from leaders in police forces in England and Wales. Police leaders - especially in England where referendum limits apply - were clear that they wanted additional flexibility to increase funding through precept. I heard their messages and responded by allowing increases of an average £1 per month in England, enabling each PCC to maintain their funding in real terms next year.

*No heading*

Douglas Ross: How many times the Tier 2 (General) Certificate of Sponsorship cap has been reached in each of the last three months.

Caroline Nokes: We recognise the valuable contribution that migrants make to our society by filling skills gaps in our labour market, and that the immigration system plays a part in supporting UK growth. The monthly allocation of places under Tier 2 (General) has been oversubscribed three times since December 2017. We keep all immigration routes under review to ensure that the system serves the national interest.

*No heading*

Nigel Huddleston: What steps she is taking to tackle cyber crime.

Mr Ben Wallace: This Government takes the threat of cyber crime extremely seriously, which is why we have committed to spending £1.9 billion to deliver the National Cyber Security Strategy. This includes boosting the capabilities of the National Crime Agency’s National Cyber Crime Unit and investing in the cyber teams within Regional Organised Crime Units to bolster our response.

*No heading*

Huw Merriman: What steps she is taking to confiscate money from criminals; and how she plans to further strengthen the asset recovery regime.

Mr Ben Wallace: We have recovered £1.4bn under the Proceeds of Crime Act since 2010. The Criminal Finances Act 2017 provides important new powers to improve the asset recovery system, such as unexplained wealth orders, the forfeiture of bank accounts and forfeiture of certain mobile assets. The Government is also implementing the recommendations made in the Public Accounts Committee Report of 2016. Our Asset Recovery Action Plan will be published by April this year.

*No heading*

Mark Pawsey: What steps her Department is taking to encourage greater collaboration between police and fire services.

Mr Nick Hurd: Emergency services collaboration remains a priority for this Government. The Policing and Crime Act 2017 introduced a new duty to collaborate and enables police and crime commissioners to take on responsibility for fire governance where a local case is made. These important measures ensure local leaders are able to drive collaboration in the best interests of their communities.

*No heading*

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: What discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the resourcing of the Economic Crime Unit.

Mr Ben Wallace: The new National Economic Crime Centre will task and coordinate the overall law enforcement response to economic crime. The Home Office is working with partners across government, law enforcement, regulators and the private sector on the design of the centre, which has £6m in funding allocated to it in the 18/19 financial year.

*No heading*

Diana Johnson: What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the protective equipment available to police forces.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government is clear that police officers should have the best possible protection when facing the physical violence that is sometimes directed against them. Decisions about the selection and purchase of police equipment are primarily for chief officers of police. The Home Office Centre for Applied Science and Technology provides scientific and technical advice to support the police, including the development and management of protective equipment standards, such as body armour and personal defence sprays.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what translation arrangements his Department has put in place to enable efficient and accurate handling of Welsh language correspondence from (a) MPs and (b) the general public.

Alun Cairns: My Department recognises the importance of the Welsh language in its day to day work. Our Welsh Language Scheme makes clear our commitment to treat the Welsh and English languages on the basis of equality, to enable people to interact with the department in their language of choice. We welcome correspondence in Welsh or English, and ensure replies on a consistent basis and to the same timescales irrespective of language. As a small department, my Office uses corporate services provided by the Ministry of Justice. This includes our use of the HM Courts and Tribunals Service’s Welsh language translation service when required.

HM Treasury

Corporation Tax

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many inquiries were raised into the corporation tax returns of companies submitted in each (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14, (c) 2014-15, (d) 2015-16 and (e) 2016-17; how many of those resulted in additional tax being due in each year; what that sum of additional tax due was by tax year; and what part of that additional tax due was paid by in each tax year.

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff were employed in corporation tax inquiries in (a) the Large Business Service and (b) other services in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14, (c) 2014-15, (d) 2015-16 and (d) 2016-17.

Mel Stride: Corporate tax compliance activity is represented across many different areas of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the majority of which takes place in HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group. The data below represents the approximate number of inquiries opened into Corporation Tax by HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group:2012-2013 - 9,4772013-2014 - 7,1342014-2015 - 13,4082015-2016 - 14,3462016-2017 - 14,507 The compliance yield solely from Corporation Tax inquiries closed in the following years is represented below:2012-2013 - £4.5bn2013-2014 - £5.2bn2014-2015 - £3.9bn2015-2016 - £3.1bn2016-2017 - £4.0bn This does not include the additional Corporation Tax resulting from the Product and Process component of HMRC’s compliance activity. Product and Process Yield is the estimated annual impact on net tax receipts of legislative changes to close tax loopholes and changes to our processes which reduce opportunities to avoid or evade tax. These figures also exclude payments of £100m in 14-15 and £943m in 15-16 following Accelerated Payment Notices issued to the largest businesses. Comparisons should not be made between the numbers of cases opened and the yield amount for the corresponding year. This is because it can take several months to work a case and inquiries opened in a specific year will not necessarily be closed, or settled, in the same year. There are currently around 26,000 people working in HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group tackling all forms of non-compliance in the tax system– ranging from individuals operating in the hidden economy, through to detailed investigation of offshore structures and scrutinising the tax affairs of the largest multi-national companies. This resource gives HMRC the capability to effectively tackle compliance risks. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of how many staff are employed on corporation tax inquiries.

Tax Collection: ICT

Rushanara Ali: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment has been made of the value for money of the Making Tax Digital IT system.

Rushanara Ali: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the timetable for the roll-out of the Making Tax Digital system.

Mel Stride: Information on the Making Tax Digital (MTD) rollout was given in my written statement to the House on 13 July 2017, which is available here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-07-13/HCWS47/  HM Revenue & Customs published a technical note on 1 December 2017 providing its assessment of MTD impacts. The note reflects the changed scale and scope of the mandatory elements announced in the 13 July statement and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-tax-digital-changing-the-scope-and-pace-technical-note/making-tax-digital-for-business

Business: VAT

Neil Coyle: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support businesses to adhere to changes to VAT reporting from 2019.

Mel Stride: There will be a range of support available to help businesses prepare for VAT digital reporting in 2019. HMRC has been working closely with software providers, business representative bodies and the accountancy profession to ensure the right support is in place to help businesses adapt. The customer support model will guide businesses to the most appropriate help including technical support, webchat, YouTube training videos, webinars, helpline and agent and business guides. A pilot will start in Spring 2018 to test the system, including the support model, well ahead of April 2019.

Withholding Tax: Treaties

Steve McCabe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of withholding tax for dividends and royalties in tax treaties on levels of investment.

Mel Stride: It is a country’s sovereign right to withhold tax on dividends and royalties that arise in its jurisdiction.Tax treaties seek to eliminate double taxation that this can create, by either preventing the parties to the treaty from imposing withholding tax, or limiting the rate that may be withheld.The view of successive governments has been that by eliminating double and excessive taxation, tax treaties promote international trade and investment, supporting economic growth and sustainable tax revenues.Assessing the direct effect of withholding rates in tax treaties on investment in isolation is not practical, as this depends on a wide range of factors, including existing and planned infrastructure, skilled workforces, and access to markets.

Lesotho: Taxation

Steve McCabe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he had with the Secretary of State for International Development on the priorities for negotiations on the tax treaty with Lesotho.

Mel Stride: The Chancellor of the Exchequer has not had any discussions with the Secretary of State for International Development on tax treaty negotiations between the UK and Lesotho. HMRC is the lead department for the negotiation of the UK’s tax treaties, reporting to HM Treasury Ministers. HMRC seeks views from a range of interested parties including DFID on which countries to engage with, taking into account economic factors, the need to counter avoidance and evasion, and the role of treaties in promoting development. DFID supports this approach which led to recent successful negotiations with Lesotho.

Contingencies Fund

Jon Trickett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times the Contingencies Fund has been used since 2010; and how much was used from that fund on each such occasion and for what purpose.

Robert Jenrick: The details of the activities in the Contingencies Fund in connection with advances made can be found in the published annual accounts.The link for each published account from the financial years 2004/05 to 2016/17 is at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-central-funds For each of the accounts, the advances and repayments that contributed to cash flow in each financial year, and the analysis of reasons for issue of advances, are disclosed in the Performance analysis section or relevant Notes to the accounts. Information on advances in 2017/18 will be published in the Contingencies Fund 2017/18 Accounts in July 2018.

Capital Gains Tax: Tax Avoidance

Caroline Lucas: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent UK residents from registering the ownership of UK land overseas in order to avoid capital gains tax.

Mel Stride: The government announced at Autumn Budget 2017 that with effect from April 2019 all gains on disposals of UK land will be within the charge to UK tax regardless of the residence of the owner, and that the charge will also apply where the disposal is made by selling UK land held in a company or trust. This builds on the action the government took in April 2015 to introduce a charge on non-residents’ gains on direct disposals of UK residential property. These changes raise revenue and will more closely align the tax treatment of UK resident and non-UK resident owners of UK property.

Enterprise Management Incentives

Sir Michael Fallon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to seek EU State Aid approval to renew the Enterprise Management Incentive scheme; and whether he plans to undertake a review of the limits of that scheme.

Mel Stride: It is the government's intention that the Enterprise Management Incentive scheme should continue. An update will be provided in due course. The government keeps all tax policy under review.

Freezing of Assets: Libya

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to decision of the UN to freeze Libyan Assets, agreed by EU Directive and adopted by the UK, whether he has made an estimate of the value of assets frozen (a) at the time the assets were frozen and (b) the current value of those assets.

John Glen: In 2011, the approximate aggregate value at the time the funds were frozen in the UK was £7.5 billion. The current value of frozen assets held are in the process of being finalised as part of the “2017 Annual Frozen Fund Review”. However, at the close of business on 30 September 2016 they were approximately £11.7 billion. The figure is provided on an aggregate basis so as not to indirectly disclose the value of funds held by particular individuals or entities. The frozen funds continue to belong to the individuals and entities listed under the Regulation and are not seized or otherwise held by HM Government.

National Insurance Contributions: Tax Allowances

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from national insurance contributions under the secondary threshold in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from national insurance contributions under the lower profits limit in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from national insurance contributions for contracted-out rebate occupational schemes in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: In response to points one and three, the table below shows estimates for the number of people receiving income tax or National Insurance Contributions relief for each of the requested allowances. The estimates show people that would face a higher tax liability if the individual allowances and/or thresholds were removed, (and include people who are currently non-taxpayers as their income is covered by these thresholds and/or allowances).Estimates of the number of people who received NIC relief (Millions) (1) 2015-162016-172017-18Contracted out rebate occupational schemes6.2--Lower profits limit (LPL)3.63.73.7(1) The figures are rounded to the nearest hundred thousand and presented in millions.  Information can only be provided for contracted out rebate occupational schemes for 2015-16, as contracting out was abolished in 2016-17. Estimates are based on the 2014-15 Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI), projected to 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s November 2017 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. In response to point two, the Secondary Threshold is the point at which Class 1 Secondary NICs is charged (at 13.8%) to employers for each of their employees. The benefit of the relief is for the employer on each of their employees in the form of a reduced Class 1 Secondary NICs liability. The employee does not benefit directly from this relief and so it is not possible to provide estimates for the number of people who received NIC relief due to the Secondary Threshold.

Air Passenger Duty: Exemptions

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from air passenger duty for cabin crew in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Robert Jenrick: Air passenger duty (APD) is payable by airlines in respect of each liable passenger departing from the UK and is dependent on the class of travel and final destination of the passengers. HMRC do not have numbers for the cabin crew exemption specifically because airlines are only required to declare an aggregate number of exempt passengers on their return. HMRC does publish estimates of the cost of the exemption from APD for cabin crew. (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-relief-statistics) These estimates are based on published APD revenue statistics and assumptions on the size and class configuration of airplanes for various destinations. (https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Tax)

Low Incomes: Children

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support low income families with children under five years of age in England.

Elizabeth Truss: The government is committed to supporting families. This April, the National Living Wage will increase by 4.4% to £7.83, this is equivalent to a pay rise of £2,000 for a full-time worker on the NLW since its introduction. The government is also helping families retain more of what they earn by raising the personal allowance. Successive increases mean that a basic rate tax payer will be £1,075 better off in 2018-19 than in 2010-11. Additionally, to help working parents with the costs of childcare the government is introducing Tax Free Childcare, providing support of up to £2000 per year for each child. The government is also doubling the free childcare available for 3 and 4 year olds to 30 hours a week for 38 weeks a year (or 570 hours per year), saving families in total around £5,000 a year per child. This is on top of the introduction, in 2013, of an entitlement to 15 hours a week of free childcare for the most disadvantaged 2 year olds (for 38 weeks of the year).

Women in Finance Charter

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what specific steps his Department is taking to encourage companies in the UK financial sector to sign up to the Women in Finance Charter.

John Glen: In 2016, the Chancellor appointed Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO of Virgin Money, as the Government’s Women in Finance Champion to promote the Women in Finance Charter and the benefits of a diverse workforce across the UK financial services sector. In collaboration with HM Treasury, Virgin Money launched the Women in Finance app in November 2017. The app features video case studies, research and practical tools to support companies who want to improve the gender balance within their organisation. Treasury officials are in regular communication with prospective signatories to help them to understand how the Charter works and support them if they wish to sign.   HM Treasury takes part in regular sector events to promote the Charter and encourage firms to sign, as well as raising awareness of the Charter through sustained social media and traditional media campaigns. There are currently 162 signatories to the Charter, who together employ over 600,000 UK financial services staff.

Pay Systems

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the proportion of total workers' pay comprised of a (a) fixed pay rate and (b) variable pay rate or performance awards in each of the last 11 years.

Elizabeth Truss: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publish data on the components of mean full-time gross weekly earnings, which include basic pay, overtime pay, incentive pay and shift premium pay. This is provided in the table below for the period 2007 to 2017. Further information on the definitions of the components of pay can be found at the following link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/methodologies/guidetointerpretingannualsurveyofhoursandearningsasheestimates#what-do-the-different-components-of-pay-mean YearOvertime payIncentive payShift premium payBasic pay20073.4% 1.7% 1.1% 93.8% 20083.4% 1.9% 1.1% 93.6% 20092.8% 1.4% 1.0% 94.8% 20102.9% 1.5% 1.0% 94.5% 20112.7%2.7%1.4%1.4%1.0%1.0%94.8%94.8%2012 2.7% 1.3% 1.1%94.9%2013 2.7% 1.3% 1.1%94.9%2014 2.7% 1.2% 1.0%95.1%2015 2.6% 1.1% 1.0%95.3%2016 2.5% 1.1% 1.0%95.3%2017 2.5% 1.2% 1.0% 95.3%Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) – Office for National Statistics Note:Employees on adult rates, pay unaffected by absenceFull-time defined as employees working more than 30 paid hours per work (or 25 or more for the teaching professions)There is a discontinuity in the dataset resulting from changes to the ASHE methodology – in 2011 the Standard Occupational Classification 2010 replaced the Standard Occupational Classification 2000.2017 data is provisionalValues are rounded to 1 decimal placeThere are known coverage issues with data on bonus and incentive payments, as the information is often not available to the respondents at the time they provide the information.

Children: Day Care

Tracy Brabin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127427 on children: day care, whether Atos or any other contractor has been given a financial sanction relating to the faults with the tax-free childcare website.

Tracy Brabin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2018 to Question 125132, on Children: day care, if he will publish the information requested.

Elizabeth Truss: It is not the Government’s usual practice to comment on financial arrangements, or release correspondence, between departments and their contactors since they may be commercially sensitive. The information requested in relation to Question 125132 is not available and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Telephone Services

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, by what means Departments select hold music for Government telephone services.

Oliver Dowden: Individual departments are responsible for putting in place arrangements for telephony services and helplines. There is not specific central guidance in place for hold facilities on Government phone services.

Electronic Government

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of the delayed implementation of Government (a) digital projects, (b) websites and (c( IT systems since 2010.

Mr David Lidington: The Cabinet Office does not centrally collect information regarding costs of delayed implementation of Government digital projects, websites and IT systems.

Government Departments: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 24 January 2018 to Question 123226, on Carillion, how often ministers and officials of his Department meet strategic suppliers; and what is discussed at such meetings.

Oliver Dowden: Officials meet strategic suppliers on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues relating to government contracts. These discussions are commercially confidential and so we do not publish details.

Government Departments: Buildings

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the current size of the Government estate is, by Department, in square metres of floor space.

Oliver Dowden: The State of the Estate report, published annually, provides information on the efficiency and sustainability of the central civil estate, including the size and cost of the Estate.The State of the Estate report 2015 -2016 is available online at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-estate-report-2015-to-2016A breakdown by Department, in square metres of floor space at March 2016 is available at Annex B.The State of the Estate report 2016 - 2017, due to be published shortly, will provide details of further progress made in reducing the size and cost of the estate, including a departmental breakdown of floor space at 31 March 2017.

Government Digital Service

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to move responsibility for data policy and governance from the Government Digital Services.

Oliver Dowden: The Cabinet Office and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport have been looking at how to bring together and further strengthen their work on the use and management of data across government. An announcement will follow in due course.

Government Departments: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who the 19 suppliers are on the Spend Analysis and Recovery Services framework.

Oliver Dowden: Information on the Crown Commercial Service’s Spend Analysis and Recovery Services framework (RM3820), including the successful bidders, can be found on GOV.UK:http://ccs-agreements.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/contracts/rm3820

Former Ministers: Business Interests

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what mechanisms are in place to monitor compliance by former Ministers of conditions set by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments for their appointments.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what mechanisms are in place to monitor compliance by former senior civil servants of conditions set by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments for their appointments.

Mr David Lidington: The independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) is responsible for advising Government and former Ministers on the application of the Business Appointment Rules. It publishes its advice online, ensuring that its consideration and any conditions imposed are publicly available, to encourage effective scrutiny and accountability for former ministers and senior civil servants.ACOBA will also make its views public when applications are received retrospectively, in order to draw attention to an individual’s failure to seek the Committee’s advice in advance of taking up a role.

Business Appointments Advisory Committee

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much money was spent by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (a) on staffing and (b) in total in each year since 2010.

Mr David Lidington: This information is publicly available in the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments’ annual reports. The reports can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=advisory-committee-on-business-appointments&publication_type=corporate-reports

Government Departments: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of Government digital and technology spending was with large companies in each year since 2012.

Oliver Dowden: Full information on government digital and technology spending with large companies is not held centrally.Information on spending through the Crown Commercial Service’s Digital Marketplace can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/digital-marketplace-sales

Government Departments: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his policy is on enforcing Government Digital Service standards on providers of shared services.

Oliver Dowden: The Government Digital Service has lead responsibility for the development of digital and technology guidance and standards in central Government including their assurance through devolved mandated powers from Treasury. This is achieved through Technology Code of Practice for investment, the Digital by Default Service Standard for design, build and delivery and the Government Service Design Manual for best practice. All Government departments are required by policy to follow the standards and guidance when developing new IT and digital solutions.

Government Departments: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to update the strategic supplier risk management policy.

Oliver Dowden: As is standard Government policy, the Strategic Supplier Risk Management Policy will be reviewed and updated in due course. It is available online here; https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/80222/20121108_Strategic_Supplier_Risk_Management_Policy.pdf

Government Departments: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department takes to assess supply chain risks in government procurement.

Oliver Dowden: Each contract has its own risk profile and government has always worked to reduce risk.Government contracts are never awarded lightly: each contract is awarded following a transparent and robust process. Government fully complies with procurement regulations and follows these diligently when advertising and awarding contracts, including assessing suppliers’ suitability.

Government Departments: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department takes to assess potential conflicts of interest between suppliers in government procurement.

Oliver Dowden: We expect suppliers to mitigate appropriately against any real or perceived conflict of interest through their work with government. A supplier with a position of influence gained through a contract should not use that position to unfairly disadvantage any other supplier or reduce the potential for future competition, for example by creating a technical solution that locks in the supplier’s own goods or services.

Aortic Aneurysm: Tees Valley

Andy McDonald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many women in South Tees died from a ruptured aortic abdominal aneurysm in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Chloe Smith: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 22 February 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 66.89 KB)




UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 187.36 KB)

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 66.89 KB)




UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 187.36 KB)

Government Departments: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to undertake a review of the effectiveness of Procurement Policy Note 01/16, Ensuring compliance with wider international obligations when letting public contracts.

Oliver Dowden: Procurement Policy Note 01/16: Complying with international obligations reminds contracting authorities that boycotts in public procurement are inappropriate, unless formal legal sanctions, embargoes and restrictions have been put in place by the UK government.This is guidance on existing policy, which has been in place under successive governments for many years. Individual Procurement Policy Notes are not routinely monitored, but compliance with the procurement rules is achieved on an on-going basis by monitoring public procurement legal cases and the Government’s Mystery Shopper Service.

Local Government: Elections

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which local authorities are taking part in the postal vote pilots for the local government elections in May 2018; and what specific measures are to be piloted in each such local authority area.

Chloe Smith: In his review into electoral fraud Sir Eric Pickles recommended the Government consider voters and proxy voters producing personal identification and enhance measures to protect the integrity of the postal vote process.Tower Hamlets, Slough and Peterborough are considering measures to improve the security of the postal vote process. The measures will include providing additional guidance in postal vote packs to inform electors how to report suspected fraudulent activity.The pilots will be evaluated by the Electoral Commission under its statutory duty as well as Cabinet Office.

Mothers: Employment

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of mothers in England with a child aged under five are in full-time work.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of single parents in England with a child aged under five are in full-time employment.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 143.98 KB)

Department for International Trade

Trade Agreements

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether it is his policy to include the NHS in his discussions on future trade deals.

Greg Hands: The Government is committed to protecting the UK's right to regulate public services, including the NHS. The UK's public services, such as services provided by the NHS, are protected by specific exceptions and reservations in all EU trade agreements. As we leave the EU, the UK will maintain our existing rigorous protections for the NHS.

Furs: Imports

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to reduce imports of fur to the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: Existing EU regulations mean that some skin and fur products may never be legally imported into the UK for commercial use. These include cat and dog fur and products as well as seal skins and products from commercial hunts. Regulations banning the import of these furs will remain in force after the UK has left the EU, as these will be converted into UK domestic law through the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.It is important that the UK work effectively at international levels to agree animal welfare standards and phase out cruel and inhumane farming and hunting practices. It is the Government’s view that an international rules-based approach will lead to a higher level of animal welfare worldwide.

Trade Agreements: Sri Lanka

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the Government plans to negotiate a trade agreement with Sri Lanka that replicates the existing agreement between that country and the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether he plans for human rights monitoring and co-operation to form part of any future trade agreement with the Government of Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: Sri Lanka exports to the UK under the EU's unilateral trade arrangement, the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+). The Government intends to provide continuity and stability whilst leaving the EU, which includes maintaining the effects of our trading relationships as we leave. This includes the EU's GSP scheme, and our trading terms with Sri Lanka, including on human rights. When the UK has left the EU, we can look to improve on those trading agreements.

Philippines: Telecommunications

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department took to investigate whether telecommunications interception equipment licensed for export to the Philippines on 25 July 2016 could be used for internal repression.

Graham Stuart: All export licence applications are rigorously assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking into account all prevailing circumstances at the time of application, including reports from Non-government Organisations and our overseas network. In particular, Criterion Two concerns the 'respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country of final destination as well as respect by that country for international humanitarian law'.The Consolidated Criteria provide a thorough risk assessment framework and require us to assess the impact of providing equipment and its capabilities.Â The Government will not issue an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the Consolidated Criteria, including if there is a clear risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression. This assessment takes into account the specific end user and intended end use of the goods.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Dormant Assets Commission

Paul Masterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department plans to respond to the report published by the Independent Commission on Dormant Assets.

Tracey Crouch: The Government published its response to the Commission on Dormant Assets’ report on 16 February 2018.

National Lottery: Tickets

Mr Alister Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with representatives of the National Lottery on the effect on lottery tickets sales of the price change of National Lottery tickets since that price change was made in 2013.

Tracey Crouch: The National Lottery is regulated by the Gambling Commission, who are responsible for approving proposed changes to National Lottery games. The Commission must be satisfied that any proposals from the operator pose no threat to the propriety of the National Lottery, that player protection will be maintained, and subject to these that returns to good causes are likely to be maximised. The Department meets regularly with the Gambling Commission to discuss regulatory matters. In addition, the Department meets with the Gambling Commission and Camelot as operator of The National Lottery on a quarterly basis. This meetings include discussions on the overall level ticket sales and returns to good causes, and factors which have influenced them.

Tourism: North of England

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps his Department has taken to encourage tourism in the north of England.

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if his Department will take steps to encourage more foreign tourists to visit the north of England.

Michael Ellis: VisitBritain and VisitEngland are responsible for promoting the UK as a tourist destination, which it does through a range of different initiatives and campaigns. There are a number of projects in the £40m Discover England Fund which are based in the north of England, including two which aim to make Manchester a gateway to England: London and Manchester: Gateways to England and Growing Manchester as an International Gateway to the North. The Coastal Communities Fund has funded 48 projects worth £54 million in the Northern Powerhouse area since 2012. At least two thirds of this expenditure has been awarded to projects supporting tourism and the visitor economy.

Lotteries: Prize Money

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to announce his decision on the maximum prize cap on society lotteries.

Tracey Crouch: We are carefully considering the issues around society lotteries raised by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, including the maximum prize cap.We will continue to take advice from the Gambling Commission as we consider policy options. We hope to conclude considerations and provide an update in due course.

Charity Commission: Public Appointments

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what criteria his Department used to assess the suitability of candidates for Chair of the Charity Commission.

Tracey Crouch: Candidates for the role of Charity Commission Chair were assessed by the Advisory Assessment Panel against the published selection criteria for the role, as per Paragraph 5.3 of the Cabinet Office Governance Code for Public Appointments. The published essential criteria were as follows: to be an accessible and engaging ambassador for the organisation, and have the ability to influence high level stakeholders within government and Parliament, the media, the charity sector and the business world;the ability to make strategic decisions within a complex and shifting external landscape;a commitment to the charity sector’s effective, independent, proportionate, and impartial regulation;the ability to provide a high quality service and deliver value for money for the taxpayer;an understanding of and interest in the charity sector, including an awareness of the multifaceted challenges it faces resulting from changing social and economic circumstances;the skills to lead a Board and support the leadership of a high profile organisation by providing strategic guidance and effective challenge;the ability to support the organisation through a period of significant change and cultural development as demonstrated by experience in either the private or charity/not for profit sector;the ability to apply strategic insight and constructive challenge to the Executive team’s plans across wide-ranging strategy, delivery and organisational issues; andpersonal integrity and resilience, demonstrable independence and other attitudes consistent with the expectations of senior public office in a high profile role

Charity Commission: Public Appointments

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether Baroness Stowell was the preferred candidate of the independent Assessment Panel for the position of Chair of the Charity Commission.

Tracey Crouch: Paragraph 3.1 of the Cabinet Office Governance Code for Public Appointments stipulates that Advisory Assessment Panels must not rank candidates unless specifically requested by the Minister. The Advisory Assessment Panel received no such request for this competition and candidates were assessed as either ‘appointable’ or ‘unappointable.’ Baroness Stowell was duly found appointable by the Panel.

Charity Commission: Public Appointments

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he held with the Prime Minister on the appointment of Chair of the Charity Commission between 1 October 2017 and 26 January 2018.

Tracey Crouch: Ministers have regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues across government to discuss a range of issues.

Charity Commission: Public Appointments

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish the names of the candidates put forward for the position of Chair of the Charity Commission by the independent Assessment Panel.

Tracey Crouch: The name(s) of the candidate(s) found appointable by the Advisory Assessment Panel will not be published, as this is classified as personal data under Section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and the Data Protection Act 1998. More broadly, it would be unfair to those who apply for public appointments, but who are not successful, to have their names published, and could discourage them from applying from other posts.

Gaming Machines: Liverpool Walton

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of people using fixed-odds betting terminals in Liverpool Walton constituency in each year since 2010.

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of fixed-odds betting terminals on gambling addiction rates in Liverpool Walton constituency.

Tracey Crouch: Neither the Department, nor the Gambling Commission, hold information on participation rates on fixed-odds betting terminals or the effect on gambling addiction rates in individual constituencies.On 31 October the government published proposals for changes on gaming machines and social responsibility measures. We were clear that we see a case for action on fixed-odds betting terminals, and the consultation outlined a range of options including cutting the maximum stake from £100 to between £50 and £2. The consultation closed on 23 January and the Government will publish its response in due course.

Broadband: East Devon

Sir Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of homes that have access to superfast broadband in East Devon.

Sir Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of businesses that have access to superfast broadband in East Devon.

Margot James: According to Thinkbroadband, currently 90.02% of premises in East Devon can access superfast broadband. This is up from 9.4% in 2012. DCMS does not hold data on broadband coverage which distinguishes between homes and businesses.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2018 to Question 123543, on Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Procurement, what those four contracts are for; and what the value of each such contract is.

Tracey Crouch: Accenture£65,000Arqiva£35.810,000Capita£3,500,000CGI£41,206

Lotteries: Regulation

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to his Department's updated Departmental Plan, published on 29 January 2018, whether he intends to publish a consultation on reform of Society Lottery regulation.

Tracey Crouch: We are carefully considering the issues around society lotteries raised by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee. We will continue to take advice from the Gambling Commission as we consider policy options and next steps. We hope to conclude considerations and provide an update in due course.

Charity Commission: Public Appointments

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason there was a delay in naming the Government's preferred candidate for the Chair of the Charity Commission; and what assessment he has made of the effect of that delay on public trust in the Charity Commission.

Tracey Crouch: All candidates assessed as “appointable” by the Advisory Assessment Panel for the role of Chairman of the Charity Commission were given the opportunity to meet the Minister for Sport and Civil Society once interviews had been held. This is in compliance with section 3.1 of the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments, and contributed to the length of the appointment process.

Charity Commission: Public Appointments

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what  (a) meetings and (b) phone calls (i) he, (ii) other Ministers of his Department and (iii) officials of his Department had with Baroness Stowell between June 2017 and her pre-appointment hearing for Chair of the Charity Commission with the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.

Tracey Crouch: All candidates assessed as “appointable” by the Advisory Assessment Panel were given the opportunity to meet the Minister for Sport and Civil Society after the interview stage. This is in compliance with section 3.1 of the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments. Baroness Stowell met with the Secretary of State in advance of her pre-appointment hearing. DCMS officials are responsible for the public appointments process, and as such have regular email and telephone exchanges with all applicants and meet with candidates at the interviews.

Ministry of Justice

Courts: Video Conferencing

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the use of virtual courts in criminal proceedings.

Lucy Frazer: HM Courts and Tribunals Service have updated the technology available to encourage greater use of video technology in criminal proceedings. This is both to increase court efficiency, reduce unnecessary travel for defendants in custody and reduce stress for vulnerable witnesses and victims.

Courts: Video Conferencing

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how may people have appeared in court proceedings via video link from (a) police stations and (b) prisons since 2000; and what the demographic breakdown was of the defendants involved.

Lucy Frazer: Between 1 June 2012 and 30 September 2017 HMCTS recorded 372,941 defendants appearing via video link from prison (181,688 in Crown Courts and 191,253 in Magistrates’ Courts) and 48,024 via video link from police stations into Magistrates Courts. The information on a breakdown of the demographics of the defendants involved can only be available at a disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Justice: Written Questions

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to respond to Question 123846, tabled by the right hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale on 19 January 2018.

Rory Stewart: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to Question 123846 on 22 February 2018.

Domestic Violence: Legal Aid Scheme

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of recent reforms to legal aid on access to justice for women escaping domestic abuse; and if he will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: The Government is clear that victims of domestic violence must have access to the help that they need, including access to legal aid.The changes we implemented on 8 January 2018 have widened the scope of existing evidence requirements, introduced new forms of evidence and removed the time limit completely from all forms of evidence for domestic violence.These changes aim to make it easier for victims, or those at risk, of domestic violence to obtain and provide the evidence required to access legal aid.It is too early to assess the effects of these changes; however, my department will be monitoring the statistics over time to assess the impact of these reforms.

Judiciary: Private Education

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has assessed the proportion of the judiciary who attended private school.

Lucy Frazer: Judicial Office do not currently hold data on the educational background of judges.

Judiciary: Females

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of the judiciary is female.

Lucy Frazer: At 1 April 2017, 28% of court judges and 45% of tribunal judges were female. The information is available on the government website. The latest published Judicial Diversity Statistics bulletin is available at the following link: https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications/judicial-statistics-2017/

Judiciary: Equality

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to increase judicial diversity.

Lucy Frazer: The Lord Chancellor has a joint statutory duty with the Lord Chief Justice and the Judicial Appointments Commission to encourage judicial diversity. The MoJ is working with the Lord Chief Justice and the Judicial Appointments Commission to consider all practical actions that would impact positively on diversity, assess the impact of our existing activities and measure progress. The MoJ also strongly supports the work of the Judicial Diversity Forum which coordinates action by MoJ, the Judicial Appointments Commission, the judiciary and the legal professional bodies to increase judicial diversity. The Judicial Appointments Commission, judiciary and legal professions undertake a range of outreach events, shadowing programmes, pre-application support and mentoring to attract and support eligible candidates, which includes programmes specifically targeted at underrepresented groups to encourage applications from diverse applicants.

Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders have been (a) applied for and (b) issued by courts since 2016.

Lucy Frazer: Statistics on FGM Protection Orders are publicly available as part of the Family Courts Statistics Quarterly series at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly. The next publication of Family Court Statistics Quarterly is due on 29 March 2018. This will provide data up to the end of December 2017.

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2018 to Question 125536 on the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, if he will publish a timetable for when the post-implementation review will (a) take place and (b) report back to Parliament.

Lucy Frazer: As part of the Post-Implementation Review of the reforms introduced by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), we will be reaching out to experts and interested parties in the relevant fields to inform the evidence gathering process.The review will report later this year. We are committed to ensuring legal aid and other forms of legal support are available to those who need it, so it is right that we take the necessary time to gather evidence.

Ministry of Justice: Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what translation arrangements his Department has put in place to enable efficient and accurate handling of Welsh language correspondence from (a) MPs and (b) the general public.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Ministry of Justice is committed to ensuring that the English language and the Welsh language are treated on a basis of equality in the conduct of public business and the administration of justice in Wales. In accordance with our Welsh Language Scheme we have Welsh language translation service arrangements in place and will answer Welsh language correspondence sent to us in Welsh by MPs and the general public within the same time frame as English language correspondence and to the same standard.

Coroners

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of whether changes are required to the rules governing coroners' discretion to accommodate religious burial requirements.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Ministry of Justice’s Guide to Coroner Services, which is available on gov.uk and is aimed in particular at bereaved families, says that “the coroner’s office will take account where possible of individuals’ views and expectations, including family and community preferences, traditions and religious requirements relating to mourning, post-mortem examinations and funerals.” Ministers will be interested to see whether, in due course, the Courts have anything to say on the matter when judgment is given in the judicial review that has been brought against the Inner North London Coroner.

Prisoners: Childbirth

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what procedures are in place for permissions to be granted for a prisoner to attend the birth of their child.

Rory Stewart: We fully understand the importance of maintaining family relationships and facilitate this wherever possible. The Prison Rules allow for the temporary release of a prisoner for compelling compassionate reasons. Release on temporary licence is subject to stringent risk assessment, and will be authorised only where the governor is satisfied that release will not put the public at risk and the prisoner will abide by all of the conditions attached to the licence. If a prisoner is eligible for release on temporary licence, this could include instances of attending the birth of their child. Where the prisoner is not assessed as suitable for temporary release, attendance at the birth will not be possible. This is because this could only be safely managed with a secure escort and it would not be appropriate for escorting officers to accompany the prisoner into the delivery room.

Prisoners: Childbirth

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2018 to Question 125711, on Prisoners: Childbirth, for what reasons the number of women who give birth in prison in 2017 was not recorded.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2018 to Question 125711, on Prisoners: Childbirth, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of determining how many women in prison gave birth in 2017.

Dr Phillip Lee: Births in prison are recorded locally. It is not practicable for all information held locally to be collected centrally as a matter of routine: information is collected centrally normally when there is a recurring need for it to be immediately available for management purposes. We will consider whether notifications of births should be added to the list of information we collect centrally.Determining how many women in prison gave birth in 2017 would require examination of all female prisoner’s records. This would have to be done manually. We estimated the cost as in excess of £10,000.

Ministry of Justice: Freedom of Information

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 his Department has received in each month since May 2010; how many responses given in each of those months disclosed (a) the full information requested, (b) part of the information requested with some information withheld under exemptions in the 2000 Act and (c) none of the information requested.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for how many responses to requests received by his Department under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the reason of (a) commercially sensitive information, (b) information not held, (c) information too costly to provide and (d) vexatious or repeated has been given since 2010.

Dr Phillip Lee: The number of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests received and responded to and the type of response is published on the Gov.uk website by the Cabinet Office. The information can be viewed using the following links: FOI performance January 2010-December 2016 can be found using the below link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/609496/foi-statistics-q4-2016-published-data.csv/previewFOI performance Quarters 1, 2 and 3 of 2017 can be found using the below links:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/freedom-of-information-statistics-january-to-march-2017https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/freedom-of-information-statistics-april-to-june-2017https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/freedom-of-information-statistics-july-to-september-2017Please note the information is displayed quarterly and annually in the publication and not monthly. Data displayed monthly can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost. The information for quarter 4 2017 and the 2017 annual report are scheduled to be published in April 2018.

Prisoners: Hepatitis

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether it is proposed that the Courts Bill will include measures to help eliminate Hepatitis C in prisons.

Dr Phillip Lee: As the Queen’s Speech set out, legislation will be brought forward to reform the courts system in England and Wales, to ensure that it is more efficient and accessible and easier for everyone to use. The legislation will not include prisons measures. Public Health England is working in partnership with NHS England and HM Prison & Probation Service to implement opt-out testing for blood-borne viruses in prisons, to increase the level of testing for Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B and HIV, and to improve access to treatment.

Liverpool Prison

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoner deaths have occurred in HMP Liverpool in each month of the last four years.

Rory Stewart: Data on deaths in prison custody is published quarterly in the Safety in Custody statistics. The most recent statistics were published on 25 January 2018 and cover deaths in prison custody to December 2017. They can be viewed at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/676154/deaths-data-tool.xlsx. The Government takes very seriously its responsibility to keep prisoners safe. We have established a prison safety programme that includes a comprehensive set of actions, including: rolling out revised and improved training for staff in assessing and managing the risk of suicide and self-harm amongst prisoners; improving support for prisoners in their early days in custody; revising the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork case management process for those identified as being at risk; and funding the Samaritans to provide their valuable Listeners Scheme.

Probation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders by local authority area of their residence are subject to multi-agency public protection arrangements.

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convicted sex offenders are currently (a) in custody and (b) not in custody.

Rory Stewart: The number of MAPPA offenders by MAPPA area (based on police force areas) can be found at gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/multi-agency-public-protection-arrangements-mappa-annual-report-2016-to-2017 in the MAPPA Annual Report 2016-17 Area Tables column P. The number of sex offenders in custody for a current sexual offence can be found at gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/676246/prison-population-q4-2017.xlsx tab 1.2b cell F6 (sentenced and in custody) and tab 1.2a cell F6 (on remand and in custody). The number of offenders in the community subject to the notification requirements under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Registered Sex Offenders) can be found at gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/655022/MAPPA-annual-report-2016-17.pdf page 7.We do not hold the number of sex offenders in the community who do not meet the threshold for notification or are no longer subject to its requirements.

Local Growth Deals: Scottish Borders

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many meetings the Minister of State in his Department has had with whom and on what dates on the Borderland Growth Deal.

Rory Stewart: I have had 5 meetings regarding the Borderland Growth Deal in my capacity as MP for Penrith and the Border. These are as follows:12 July 2016: Guy Opperman MP, Hexham8 February 2017: David Mundell MP, Secretary of State for Scotland18 July 2017: David Mundell MP, Secretary of State for Scotland26 January 2018: Carlisle City Council29 January 2018: Jake Berry MP, Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth Minister, MHCLG

Prison Service: Hepatitis

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the risk of Hepatitis C infection for prison staff.

Dr Phillip Lee: Staff receive education and training on safe systems of work, universal precautions, hand hygiene and use of personal protective equipment in relation to dealing with body fluids at work which reduces the risk of staff contracting Hepatitis C. Use of blood spillage kits are used by trained individuals only. There is no preventative vaccine to protect against Hepatitis C therefore post exposure management such as immediate first aid followed by appropriate risk assessment is essential. Occupational health intervention in HMPPS includes provision of a 24 Hour Body Fluid Exposure and Sharps Injury Telephone Helpline which is publicised on the HMPPS intranet. This includes: - Provision of immediate and clinical advice by specialist nurses following suspected and actual blood to blood exposure incidents for staff at all levels via a HMPPS 24/7 telephone advice line.Incidences and assessments are recorded on OH Assist electronic clinical data system which provides an evidence base for any potential investigation for legal/insurance claims.Specialist helpline nurses will arrange follow up blood tests and advise the employee to attend Accident and Emergency for urgent care if the blood exposure is high risk and significant.

Women and Equalities

Sustainable Development

Alex Sobel: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to promote Sustainable Development Goal 5.

Victoria Atkins: The UK was instrumental in securing agreement for a stand-alone goal and dedicated targets for gender equality and women’s empowerment within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The promotion of SDG5, and other related targets, remains a priority for the Government both domestically and internationally. Government policies, such as those to eliminate the gender pay gap and to end violence against women and girls, will help us achieve the implementation of the goals.